


Of The Bonds That Bind

by Abby_Ebon



Category: D.N. Angel, X-Men (Movies)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-22
Updated: 2013-08-03
Packaged: 2017-11-12 16:14:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/493173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abby_Ebon/pseuds/Abby_Ebon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>DNAngel crossover with XMen. AU. At the age of seven, Daisuke Niwa grew red wings, his parents tried to hack them off and Dark saved him. Seven years later, Daisuke doesn’t remember much about his life before the XMen, except for the boy he dreams of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alone…Or Not…

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own DNAngel or X-Men. Nice Try.
> 
> Summary: At the age of fourteen, Daisuke Niwa learned from the X-Men what he was – a mutant. But, his powers manifested at the age of seven, not in his teens, forcing him on the streets of Japan at a young age, having been trained as a thief all his life, he put those skills to use to survive.
> 
> His mutant ability is hardly normal either, he puts an entirely different swing on the phrase "split personality" because – his mutant ability has a personality all 'his' own, and when Daisuke is in danger – Dark emerges from his own body, changing it to Dark's 'own' to protect him; otherwise Dark is a rather talkative 'mental voice'. Daisuke doesn't remember much about his life before the X-Men, except for the boy he dreams of.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

: **_Dark's Thoughts to Daisuke_** :

- _Daisuke's Thoughts_ -

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

- _I don't want to die_ …- The seven year watched, wide eyed, as his mother had approached him with a butcher knife. Unnoticed to the little boy whose eyes were only for the knife, tears were falling from her eyes - down her cheeks. It was early morning, and she hadn't yet put on her makeup, her face was pale – and the grip on the butcher knife clammy.

"D-Daisuke, baby, I'm so sorry…" She whispered – her eyes were not on him, but on the two red wings that had sprouted from his back this morning. She had screamed at the sight of them, calling for his father calling in on of those "mutant freaks".

It was his father who had told her to get the knife. It was his father who had sat down on Daisuke's cot in the chilled basement, had hugged him awkwardly, then sat him in his lap and told him that everything would be alright, that they'd get rid of the wings – then Daisuke wouldn't be taken away or experimented on in a lab.

Daisuke hadn't understood _how_ they'd "get rid of the wings" until his mother had came down the stairs – and he had seen the glint of silver from the butcher knife.

His father had acted swiftly, holding him down on his stomach caught between his father, and the cot, Daisuke's wings and feathers held aloft in his powerful hands.

His father's hands that he had trusted, for just yesterday they had been used to throw and catch him in the air, for Daisuke had always loved to feel like he was flying. He couldn't understand why his mother and father were not happy for him – why they could not see his delight in the newly grown wings.

Instead of delighted, they were horrified, seeking to cut them from Daisuke.

" _Mommy_?" The boy whispered, and his mothers step faltered, and then her eyes again went to the red wings and her grip on the knife tightened, her resolve hardening.

"Just do it!" His father hissed at her, the little boys heart fluttered like the wings of a caged bird.

He felt his heart pulse aloud in his ears- once, twice...and felt heat flooding him. It was overwhelming, overpowering, _heat_ \- not just warmth.

: **_It'll be alright kid, I promise you._** : A voice that wasn't his own- yet came from within him- spoke, but not aloud; for although he _heard_ it- it wasn't with his ears… It was the last thing he remembered...

Then there was darkness...

When Daisuke awoke, it was another morning. In an alley, off the main road somewhere in the city (he wasn't allowed to go to alone). He didn't remember getting away from his parents, and he didn't even remember where he was.

The innocent eyes of a seven year old, called Daisuke - stared at his hands through his newly forming tears. His hands were small and already grimy with dirt - even though it was still morning.

His mom hadn't let him wash his hands…

And now he was alone on the streets...

He was seven years old today, and out on the streets. Red hair fell over his expressive eyes, and the little boy wrapped his arms around his knees, and cried for the loss of everything he had ever known.

: **_There, there, it'll be alright. I am Dark, a part of yourself, and I will protect you._** :

 _It was that voice again_! The little boy thought suddenly looking nervous, as that voice - Dark, was who he suspected had made the wings – and then made his mother and father _hate_ him!

The child looked around, nervous, and from within his own mind the voice chuckled - in an amused sort of way, and the boy gulped.

: **_Oh Red, I could never hurt you…_** : Dark 'whispered' in his mind, almost sadly.

"My name isn't Red!" The little boy shouted aloud at the voice called Dark, as he was alone, and no one was there who would think strangely of him. He didn't care if they did anyway…it didn't matter anymore.

: **_I know_ that _it isn't your name, but it's what I'm going to call you from now on._ _Don't think things like that, it does matter that you think your alone, your not, I will always be with you… and you matter to me_** : Dark 'said' sounding final. The little boy accepted this new name, though he wasn't happy about it.

: **_Now, to find food._** : Dark 'murmured softly', and the boy felt the heat return – and the darkness fell over him again, holding and nurturing him in the shadows of his own mind.

Where there had once sat a boy of seven sat a suddenly older boy, of perhaps ten. Where the boy-child had been scarlet haired and ruby eyed, this one was darker as well as older.

He had darker, purple, hair, and royal purple eyes.

Dark, now fully formed and changed, smirked at nothing in particular, stood, and proceeded to do what he did best – which was, of course, to _steal_. For though Daisuke did not know it, the 'traps' and 'games' he had played with his parents had been training for becoming a thief.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

_Seven Years Later,_

_Daisuke -14, Dark - 17_

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Dark's eyes opened, only to see the darkness of the night and the shadows of the branches of his favorite tree on the campus of Xavier's Institute for the Gifted, stretched out above him. The branches he laid on cradled his body, and he glanced around suspiciously to see what had awoken him. Daisuke stirred, 'awakening' and using Dark's eyes to see what was going on.

- _Dark, what is it?_ \- Daisuke asked of him, Dark sighed and sat up, his eyes trailing to the yard. The pool – not far off, slid closed, and Dark chuckled.

"Seems the X-Men have returned, hopefully with the new mutant they'd gone out to find. Let's go greet them, eh, Daisuke?" Dark spoke aloud, sliding down the tree, stretching like a cat to hear his back pop, then set out across the yard, going from shadow to shadow, unnoticed by the cameras and sensors – Dark would have to remind Xavier to update them – again.

He slid open the window in the kitchen, sneaking into the mansion. Technically, Dark was not allowed to leave his room at night – officially he had told Xavier, Jean Grey and Scott to "suck eggs".

If he wanted to sleep in a proper park-like tree instead of a bed that had him feeling as vulnerable as a babe, and gave Daisuke nightmares for obvious reasons, then Dark would do exactly that. Rules be damned, besides – as of yet they'd not been able to find a mutant able to grow a tree in his room for him. Not that Xavier would 'allow' that either…

Just like he didn't 'allow' the students into the lower levels of the school, for it was for the "X-Men", their teachers.

Dark had never been keen on rules, something his mentor, Remy, or Gambit as he was called by his fellow X-Men, had understood. Being a thief himself, Remy had encouraged Dark's curiosity and explorations; when, once, Dark had been caught, Remy had sweet talked the others into believing him when he said it was for Dark's sake that the thieving skills not fade.

Remy had disappeared though, and Dark had been alone for a year…

Dark shook off his thoughts, walking down the lower levels without fear of discovery. H was, as Dark, soundless and as graceful as a cat. He spotted Jean crossing the hall up ahead, and quickly sped soundlessly after – keeping his mind blank, and not too worried for discovery with Daisuke.

Jean had long ago confessed that of the two of them, she only sensed the one who currently controlled their body. The other fading to background 'noise', Dark wasn't sure how he felt about this – but Daisuke and he could always come back, and no one had ever been stuck in the 'background' too much.

"Hey, _Professor_ , how are things going tonight?" Dark asked smoothly stepping foreword into her medical ward, a fleeting smile crossed Jean's lips, and she glanced at him, then back to the man stripped and strapped to the steel medical bed.

"Fine Dark, you have class in the morning." Jean made no other mention of his midnight wanderings. Dark looked down to the wild looking man on the bed, a stranger, Dark tilted his head, taking in his appearance – he was muscular, could have been a wrestler, for he seemed the type to fight.

He had a haggard look about him, he didn't take very good care of himself – his hair was uncut, he was dirty, and smelled of booze and cigarette smoke. He could see Jean was trying not to breathe it in too much – she hated cigarettes, something about the "mental taste" of a persons mind when they'd been smoking and drinking.

Despite that – Dark's eyes scanned the papers on him, dismissing the medical jargon that Jean put on to annoy him (because he firmly believed he was the only one to sneak into her lab and read it) but Jean never told him he couldn't read others files, only warned him about not specking about it to others. And who'd he care to tell?

He was rather baffled that although the man smelled of drink and cigarettes there were no signs of them in his body, he looked from the files to the man – and then to Jean, his eyebrow raising.

"If this is your bed-side manner, it's a wonder Scott doesn't have to fight off the men left and right." Dark leered teasingly – his female teachers and fellow students had quickly grown to adore him, and he teased and flirted to drive the male students and teachers to glaring at him. It was fun – and harmless, because Dark did not care to be in a relationship, and everyone had learned that Daisuke was innocent in that regard – he was everyone's little brother.

Nevertheless, Jean blushed, even as she rolled her eyes.

"The straps are for his own safety, he struggles in his sleep." Jean explained even as Dark's eyes went to the x-rays – he understood them well enough, this man by all rights should have been dead twice over – once for the metal in his body, and twice for his age. He looked young – anywhere from mid-twenties to thirties, in truth, his age was impossible to know because his bones were metal, and his body had healed all injures.

"Was he the only one you brought in?" Dark asked, leaning against the wall as he watched Jean work- she paused, and bit her lip, thinking.

"No, actually, we also brought in a girl who was with him; would you like to meet her?" Jean inquired softly; setting down her clipboard, Dark shrugged – and Jean smirked. She knew Dark couldn't help but be curious of a new student – such information usually got him into trouble – or made to be 'useful' for the professors.

"Sure, I guess." Dark answered softly, and Jean smiled at him – it was a beautiful smile, and Dark knew he'd been played.

"I'll tell Xavier you're on your way." Jean told him, shooing him out of the lower levels of the school, her presence in his mind a feather-weight as she guided him to Xavier.

 


	2. Of the Rogue, and of the boy called Satoshi

_Previously_ ;

"Was he the only one you brought in?" Dark asked, leaning against the wall as he watched Jean work- she paused, and bit her lip, thinking.

"No, actually, we also brought in a girl who was with him; would you like to meet her?" Jean inquired softly; setting down her clipboard, Dark shrugged – and Jean smirked. She knew Dark couldn't help but be curious of a new student – such information usually got him into trouble – or made to be 'useful' for the professors.

"Sure, I guess." Dark answered softly, and Jean smiled at him – it was a beautiful smile, and Dark knew he'd been played.

"I'll tell Xavier you're on your way." Jean told him, shooing him out of the lower levels of the school, her presence in his mind a feather-weight as she guided him to Xavier.

Professor Jean Grey, of course, _knew_ that Dark knew his way to Xavier' office, she was just making sure he purposefully didn't get 'lost'. Dark took his time about getting there, admiring the artwork along the halls – and the statue that could be swiped and sold for a good wad of cash.

 _Don't you dare_…Jean warned him, making her mental self known; Dark grinned slightly, glad despite himself for the mental presence of a companion, while others thought Jean was 'creepy' or were wary around her, thinking it guarded their minds, Dark welcomed it.

When, at night, Dark was at his most active, and Daisuke usually settled back to being the 'background noise'; leaving Dark who was used to Daisuke talking to him anytime, or commenting on the things seen or done, alone. Dark never 'slept' as a normal person would, he remembered, he dreamed, he daydreamed – but his 'personality' didn't need to rest like Daisuke had to.

So usually he wandered the campus, or bothered Jean, or talked to Xavier about 'bad habits' or something equally as adult and boring – he really missed Remy on those nights, because, loath as he admitted it, he _liked_ these people Daisuke insisted could help them.

 _Oh, Dark_ ….Jean whispered in his mind, having read his thoughts, quietly she left his mind, seeing through his eyes – or just knowing, that he had arrived at Xavier's office.

"….when will he wake up?" A southern female voice, likely the stranger's girl, asked as Dark opened the professor's office door.

"I am not sure Rogue. I believe he'll wake up by tomorrow…Ah, Dark, there you are…" Xavier greeted him, smiling slightly – Dark put his hand on his hip, raising his eyebrow – glancing to the girl as he looked about the office.

"Jean said you needed me – and then preceded to 'guild' me here, which, by the way, was quite unneeded, as I've been here enough times…" Dark 'ranted' taking in the girls – she was brown haired and sweet looking, and reminded him of a mouse, looking up at him with wide eyes – like a mouse would a cat.

Xavier chuckled, amused by Dark's antics, and seeing through them.

"Be that as it may, this time you aren't here to entertain a lecture about theft, or 'borrowing', this is Rogue – and Rogue, this is Dark; I thought that as neither of you are going to get some sleep tonight, Dark might as well show you around to where your classes are going to be in the morning." Xavier explained to the two of them what they'd been introduced for, Dark's lips twisted into a pout.

"New-kid duty?" He whined, and Rogue lowered her eyes, ashamed that she had been such a bother to the professor to be pushed on a student for a tour.

"Well, it is either this, or hall-duty." Xavier warned, narrowing his eyes seeing how much Dark's comment had hurt Rogue.

"New-kid duty it is!" Dark said in a rush, looking so horrified at the idea of watching his fellow student's poor attempts at 'sneaking' into other student's rooms that he made Rogue smile a bit.

"Come along milady; let us leave this dour old coot to his plotting of plots." Dark told her in a whisper – even if he knew Xavier would hear – or hear him as he thought it. Xavier watched on, amused, and even as Dark offered his arm in a gentlemanly manner and Rogue – after looking at Xavier, took it, then Dark paraded them out of Xavier's office.

Dark gestured to the door, once it had been closed.

"This is the Ethics and Morals classroom, as well as Xavier's office, now where to next – kitchen? Or bathroom?" Dark leered slightly as he said 'bathroom' making Rogue blush and stutter a soft no – which made Dark grin. Rogue realized then that he was only teasing her, and was just the type to flirt with anyone for the amusement of it.

"Kitchen it is then! Do you know twenty times out of a hundred here, people _make out_ in the kitchen?" Dark inquired loudly, Rogue merely raised an eyebrow when he winked, although she could have sworn she'd heard a choking noise from behind them.

"Ah, my beloved food, I have returned…" Dark said with a fleeting grin as he opened the door for her. Dark went quickly to the fridge, snatching out two sodas, cookies, chocolate, and ice cream.

"So what do you prefer…low-fat, fattening, or deadly?" Dark inquired after handing over the soda, Rogue shrugged and Dark smirked.

" _All three_? Brave girl, want to marry me?" Dark teased, taking out two bowls and setting them on the table top while Rogue watched, lips tugging into a small grin.

"Not particularly, you don't seem the faithful type." Rogue told him, munching on her cookie.

Dark ' _humphed'_ as he scooped the first bowl full of ice-cream, he waved the spoon at her – while dragging the cookies and chocolates to his side of the table, the chocolates were promptly crushed up and stirred in vanilla ice-cream, five peanut butter set to the side of the bowl as a 'dip' – and the bowl slid across the table to Rogue.

"There's gratitude for you." He whined mockingly, as he made his own bowl of crushed chocolates and vanilla ice-cream with cookies.

"Not that I don't appreciate it, but why the midnight snack?" Rogue asked the dark haired teen as they dug into the treat.

"Well, your friend is in the infirmary, figure you can use a distraction. If I'm anything, I'm that – the professor and Jean know that as well as anyone. So, if you got picked up, you must be a mutant…what's your power?" Dark asked with a grin, as Rogue doubtfully bit into a peanut butter cookie with the mixed treat atop it, she ' _hummed'_ approvingly.

"Well, it's a long story…" Rogue dodged, looking down at the table top.

"Ah, one of _those_ then, don't worry pretty, with me on your side no one will ask anything of you…" Dark mused, licking his finger, his bowl finished up quickly; he set about fixing the kitchen up, and Rogue watched him as she finished off the last of hers – handing him the bowl, he took it with his other hand, the other holding hers – he put the bowls and spoons in the sink then rushed off to the 'secret passage' to the lower levels.

"C'mon, you want to see the coolest thing _ever-_ or maybe you'd rather want to see…your friend?" Dark asked in a rush, and Rogue's eyes had widened.

"You can get me to him?" She demanded, and Dark nodded, grinning, Rogue looked relieved.

"Take me to him then." Rogue decided, and Dark led her along the empty halls to the infirmary, cautious, he peeked from behind the door to make sure Jean was gone, to see it empty, but for the unconscious man strapped to the metallic table.

He gave the signal for an 'all clear' and Rogue nervously entered – she looked reassured to see him alive – if angered at the sight of him strapped to the table.

"Why is he kept like this?" Rogue demanded rather loudly of Dark, who shrugged, looking over Jean's records.

"Looks like he was brought in hurt pretty bad – had to sedate him, and bandage him up – he kept moving, so she had to keep him from hurting himself when he was unconscious." Dark told her – giving her the short version, Rogue frowned, biting her lip in thought.

"C'mon, we got to go; Jean never leaves a patient long." Dark warned her, pulling her from the room. To Rogue, Dark seemed giddy and willing to show Rogue anything she asked about after that.

Though Rogue didn't get to see the "coolest room ever", she was introduced to the television – a beautiful wide screen, with too many channels to count. Having to go to the bathroom after a round of flipping through them, she saw why Dark had mentioned it – for it was more of a lounge room then a bathroom.

It wasn't till after three in the morning that she was led to her own rooms, suffice to say, she didn't thank Dark in the morning when she had to 'get up' at seven.

Dark rested on the couch afterwards with the television off; gently he 'nudged' Daisuke, who stirred sleepily.

- _She seems nice_ …- Daisuke assured Dark when his darker half grew worried at his unresponsiveness.

: **_I'm glad you approve then, what did you 'dream' of?_** : Dark asked, his eyes closing as he curled on the couch, comfortably aware that Daisuke was safe, and aware of their surroundings.

- _The same one…of the boy_ …- Daisuke answered, and Dark sighed, remembering it for himself.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

Dark, looking seven years younger, still knew he was being followed even when he had the appearance of a ten year old. He even knew who it was too, it was _that_ boy. A boy about Daisuke's age, who he'd called Red at that age, and _still_ did to tease him for his blushing as a teenager.

The boy, around eight, with silver hair, and hard navy blue eyes, had been in the last store he'd stole from, so he wasn't _too_ worried. Confidently, Dark had stridden down the street, and into the alleys which were _his_ , when the boy cornered him, he watched on – somewhat amused, as the younger boy shuffled his feet nervously.

"Can I help yeah?" Dark had asked - sneeringly, the silver-haired boy had ducked his head down, eyes bashfully on the road.

"Not really. I saw you stealing, my name is Satoshi…" Satoshi had said softly, the Dark of then had raised an eyebrow in silent challenge.

"That supposed to mean something to me?" He had asked rudely, Satoshi had quickly shaken his head.

"No, but, I dreamed you – and of a boy my age…your name was Dark." Dark had stood, frozen to the spot as a chill had gone through him. He had narrowed his eyes at the younger boy.

"Yeah?" Dark had said, suspicious.

"We were friends." Satoshi had finished, likely feeling very foolish.

 _-I wanna meet him…talk to him_.- Red had insistently told Dark, Dark sighed and looked Satoshi in the eye. "Don't run- or scream." He had warned him.

"Huh - _why_?" Satoshi had asked of him, confused.

"You'll see." Dark echoed mysterious - and very mischievous.

Suddenly, pitch-black wings sprouted from Dark's back. It was no simple thing either- they didn't just appear, they grew - in a matter of seconds, but grew painfully, and blood-soaked all the same. Satoshi felt nausea prickling at his throat, but he didn't scream- Dark gave him that much credit.

What came next was a shimmering- like the road on a hot summer day, and where Dark had once stood was Daisuke, with _red_ -wings, and hair, and crimson eyes.

Satoshi had fainted (later claiming hotly that it was the summer heat and he had 'blacked out') - and Daisuke had caught him, and that was what Dark had expected.

( _In Satoshi's Perspective_ )

Satoshi had awoken in the abandoned alley, boxes covered with blankets lay under him, and a sheet lay over him. They were all relatively clean considering where he was- Satoshi remembered the boy from the store- and the boy he had turned into.

This time he knew it wasn't a dream, because, well how else was he to explain how he had awoken in an alley?

Krad wouldn't like this. Satoshi shivered, even though it was a warm day. His big brother would be looking for him, and as Krad was rich, it wouldn't take him long to find Satoshi.

No time at all really.

Satoshi looked around, blue eyes taking in the mess of the alley, he had hoped to see the red-winged boy, but he wasn't around. In his dreams the red-winged boy was very important to him, and Satoshi felt somewhat responsible for him.

There was a creaking, and Satoshi looked to the street, and there was the red-winged boy, wingless.

"Oh you woke up? Good! I was getting worried!" The crimson eyed boy exclaimed, excited, and he stumbled over a piece of trash to get to Satoshi quicker.

"I'm Daisuke, Dark is my other half, he says to be careful of you, but he says that about everyone." The red-haired boy explained, kneeling in the alley next to the make-shift bed, he told Satoshi all this as if it was nothing special, but it was.

This boy, he was like Krad, like himself. A mutant, hated from birth. Satoshi had wanted to protect him.

"I'm sure he has a reason…is there always so much blood when you change?" Satoshi asked, pale at the thought, remembering the blood in his dreams- and the very red blood of the bullets in his parents.

"Usually, we can't help it…" Daisuke whispered, sad that this disturbed the older boy.

"It's…alright." Satoshi hastened to reassure him, not wanting to lose the boy as a possible friend, his _first_ real friend.

"Do you always faint like that?" Daisuke asked, not looking Satoshi in the eyes, but the silver haired boy knew the other was nervous- and had every right to be. If Satoshi passed out at a bad time, people would think it was always the other boys fault.

"No, Krad usually stops it." Satoshi was telling the truth, his bother could change things, to how he wanted them; move time faster- or slower, or transport things. It was weird – and cool.

"Oh, that's nice of him." Daisuke said, smiling warmly at the other boy. A shadow fell over them, and Satoshi looked up into the cold amber eyes of his silver-haired brother.

He paled, fearing for his new friend- for Krad was not always nice to people. Daisuke, confused by Satoshi's change of expression- looked up, and tripped over his own feet landing next to Satoshi.

Krad glanced at the red headed boy, he was… amused?

"Yes, yes, it is very nice of me." Krad stated, and Satoshi ducked his head.

"Unfortunately, it seems my baby brother is unable to stay put…" Krad continued; golden eyes narrowed at the younger boy.

"S-sorry, Krad, I-I _saw_ Dark." Satoshi muttered, Krad frowned, knowing his brother had prophetic dreams- and wouldn't lie about one of them coming true.

As Krad thought of it, he remembered his brother speaking of the red-haired boy with crimson eyes and red wings who 'held Dark within', apparently literally. Red and black feathers were scattered around the alley.

"I see, well, we must protect our precious ones." Krad continued smoothly, he knew Dark was to be his lover - Satoshi said so, and Satoshi was rarely wrong. At least that's what he had gathered from his brothers blushing face and rush of words like 'Dark kissed you…and it _stopped_ the building from falling'.

He also guessed that Daisuke- the red headed boy looking oh-so-confused at his feet would be something more then his brothers 'very best friend, who lives in the mansion'; Krad wasn't willing to upset what was meant to be - and if Dark _wasn't_ a part of the younger boy, he would come for him later. Satoshi had always been instant that Dark followed the boy like a shadow.

" _C-can he live with us, like in my dreams_?"

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

It was then that Dark and Daisuke had always awoken, not remembering what had happened after that. That made Dark nervous, for if they had forgotten the boy, Satoshi, what else had they forgotten?

O.o.O.o.O.o.O


	3. Of Fire and Ice

"Dark, man, you weren't on that couch all night, were you?" The sudden voice stirred Dark from his musings – he looked up to see St. John looking down at him. The fire users dark hair sleep disheveled, and blue eyes taking in the sight of a relaxed Dark almost greedily as he leaned over the edge of the couch. St. John's head cocked to the side – a small smirk playing on his lips at having caught Dark unaware.

Dark, not letting St. John the privilege of knowing how much his sudden appearance had startled him, glanced at the clock – it read 5:30, but that didn't surprise him – St. John was an early riser. Dark let himself stretch, arching his back – his flimsy black shirt riding up showing off the line of dusky hair the went from his navel into his pants, St. John glanced away, and yawning, Dark sat up.

"I guess I have been, going to go eat?" Dark murmured trying to keep his voice down so not to wake the rest of the school. St. John shrugged, letting his hand go to his pocket – where his lighter was, flicking it open and closed, as was his habit.

"Nah, grabbed a breakfast bar, ought to do till morning." St. John added seeing Dark look somewhat disapprovingly at him. St. John knew Dark (and Daisuke) had lived on the streets – both enjoyed food immensely, and in turn frowned on most of the students for taking it for granted.

"Yeah, whatever – met a girl last night, she came in with the X-Men – you know, when they went to get the mutant they've been so hush-hush about." Dark yammered, heading for the mansions door.

"Where are you going?" St. John asked with a raised eyebrow, following him.

"Well, for a walk – of course, you may not have eaten, but I snacked." Dark confessed, leaving the mansion and glancing around at the quite acres that surrounded it. He loved this place – if for the sole reason of the wildlife, though he also loved the cities, if for an entirely different reason. They headed around the mansion, and St. John knew Dark planned to walk it, and started a conversation to let the time pass quicker.

"You mean you ate 'junk food'. Say it with me, junk food." St. John corrected absentmindedly, even as Dark visibly rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyway, this girl…." Dark started, but St. John halted him.

"What's her name?" St. John interrupted him, amused that Dark had started a tale without a name.

"Rogue." Dark answered shortly, looking somewhat annoyed at being interrupted.

"Rogue?" St. John asked amused – his tone hinting at his doubt, and Dark pouted.

"I haven't made her up! She's Kitty's new roommate." Dark assured, and St. John grunted, letting Dark finally get on with his tale.

"Well, anyway, this Rogue, you might like the look of her – she's fun, though she's really worried about her friend." Dark told St. John, looking up to see the dawn splashing a rainbow of colors over the morning sky.

"Who's her friend?" St. John questioned, curious despite himself, and Dark shrugged biting his lip.

"Not supposed to tell, I imagine you'll meet him soon though – not the kind of guy you forget, but, if I tell Jean might have me doing hall-watch duty for forever." Dark exaggerated, and St. John frowned, studying Dark.

"How do you know all this anyway?" St. John asked, suspicious that he might be getting one of Dark's fables.

"Saw them return, followed, and I saw the guy – then I was forced to baby sit the girl all night. You can ask Xavier or Jean if you don't believe me." Dark assured him, sensing his doubt, St. John grunted, not commenting. Dark let himself roll his eyes, knowing the other youth wouldn't be responding anytime soon.

"C'mon, let's go see to waking up Bobby…" Dark mused, a wicked glint in his eyes. St. John chuckled, and followed Dark to where he had long ago placed a ladder, hidden among the bushes that lined the base of walls of the boy's dorms – and knowing there was a similar one in the flower garden along the wall of the girl's dorms.

They climbed up it – and as St. John was Bobby's roommate, he insisted the window always be open – in case St. John 'accidentally' set something on fire and they needed to air out the room.

Putting a finger to his mouth, Dark made his way over to Bobby – as St. John watched on, amused despite himself. Dark squealed high-pitched, and jumped on Bobby – St. John groaned softly, clicking his lighter open and closed.

"Wake up Drake! There's a _fire_!" Dark yelled, and Bobby ' _gahhed'_ and threw Dark off him, St. John knew what Bobby was going to do – and flicked on his lighter throwing up a fire-shield around himself and Dark, just as Bobby iced the rooms.

Dark was giggling – well, cackling, and St. John couldn't help but chuckle at Bobby's expression at seeing _everything_ iced.

"Looks like someone iced-their-rooms today." St. John mused, making it sound as if he'd said "wet the bed" – Bobby groaned softly, shaking his head – only somewhat annoyed, because everyone suffered under Dark's pranks, even Dark. Then he caught sight of the desk – and his iced Engineering project, and paled.

"My project…" Bobby whimpered, Dark looked over at the desk – and whistled.

"Damn, Scott's gonna _kill_ you –" Dark agreed – the project was a motor, and was due today.

"Oh, no he isn't, Dark, he's gonna have words with you first!" Bobby snarled, and St. John snorted, and Bobby turned his attention to his friend, who shook his head – still flicking his lighter on and off.

"No man, he told you to store it someplace safe – obviously this wasn't a 'safe' place." St. John told him, and Bobby cringed, knowing St. John was right.

"Maybe it will _melt off_ before class?" Dark suggested with a pointed look to St. John, which Bobby missed, looking between the two with a forlorn expression.

"You've got to be kidding, Dark, class is in two hours – it'll take four hours to melt, and then half a day to dry out." Bobby told him, and St. John sighed, wondering at why he always befriended the dense ones.

"Bobby, anything fire sensitive within the motor?" St. John asked, and Bobby shook his head still not clued in.

"No, I built it to withstand a fire." Bobby assured him – and when St. John and Dark smirked, sharing a look, his eyes grew wide – St. John's lighter _clicked_ open – and then with a leap - the flames set on the motor, unthawing it from the ice – St. John's eyes closed as he concentrated on maintaining a level temperature on the ice – within moments the fire on ice effect faded, and St. John flicked closed the lighter and quenched the flames before they could set fire to the desk.

" _Awesome_." Bobby breathed, and St. John grinned – he hadn't melted the motor – and he hadn't set fire to anything else, so it was progress with his control.

"C'mon, Bobby, you've got to get dressed to meet Rogue!" Dark explained, throwing Bobby shirt and pants and pulling an amused St. John from his room. About five minutes later – Bobby arrived, his now-drying motor in his arms.

"We can stop by the garage on the way to breakfast." Bobby assured them seeing their looks to the motor – Dark shrugged and let the way to the girl's dorms. Despite it being ten minutes past 7, most of them were dressed – or at least in nightwear, whereas the guys usually didn't wake up till 8:30, and didn't dress until breakfast (which started at 9), classes usually starting at 10 in the mornings.

"Who's Rogue anyway?" Bobby asked St. John as they followed Dark to the girl's dorms.

"Some girl he met last night." St. John answered, and Bobby – not quite as friendly in the mornings, merely grunted, unimpressed.

"I have you know that Rogue is a splendid person – and she doesn't believe in this 'dieting' thing the media is preaching." Dark answered in sing-song, proving that he had much better hearing then most. St. John raised an eyebrow – interested in the mysterious girl now, and Bobby chuckled.

"Cool, so long as I don't have to hear one more "do I look fat in this?" there is _no way_ to answer that. They either end up thinking your lying, or a pervert." Bobby muttered, remembering Kitty's shopping habits – and her habits of taking Daisuke and the two of them along, along with half the girls in the dorm.

"Don't generalize, Bobby. Especially as lying, and being a pervert is what you specialize at." St. John warned, and Bobby mocked him, rolling his eyes – only stopping when St. John flicked open his lighter threateningly – knowing it for a threat to his porn collection.

"What? You got a crush now St. John?" Bobby teased after making their way past a few other early-morning students, ascending the stairs – St. John shrugged from behind him.

"Personally, Drake, as most of the people here at the school are the rare few that make up the mutant population, we'll likely be seeing a lot of each other as adults. Maybe even date or marry – who knows, my point is, do you _really_ want them to grow up, and remember you grouping them all together?" St. John asked, and Bobby bit his lip – shrugging.

"Guess you've got a point." Bobby admitted, half way up the staircase.

"Of course he does, Bobby, you should know that St. John has always been wiser in the ways of love then _you_." Dark told him teasingly, Bobby rolled his eyes, keeping a grip on the engine and wondering _why_ Xavier had put the boy's dorms on the second floor of one side of the school – and the girls in the fifth of the other. It was too long a walk – especially with a motor in his arms.

"Great, next you'll tell us you're going to marry her – live in a white picket house with a fence, three kids, and give up your thieving ways for this 'Rogue'." Bobby said jokingly, trying to put the issues of the dorms out of his mind, only to have Dark spin around – poking him in the chest.

"How did you know that? Are you _spying_ on me?" Dark demanded of the taller teen, and St. John choked with laughter – while Bobby merely raised an eyebrow at the smaller teen.

"Seriously man," Bobby muttered rolling his eyes, "you say that about _every_ girl." Dark grinned, shaking his head.

"I haven't lied… _yet_." Dark said – smirking, St. John muttered something, and Bobby, the only one who could have heard it, raised an eyebrow at him. Reaching the top of the staircase, Dark led them to Kitty's room – and only he would know, as only Daisuke among the three of them, was allowed in the girl's dorms.

"Kitty?" Dark called while knocking on the door, it peeked open and Kitty looked out – saw the three boys, and groaned.

"It's too _early_ , Dark." Kitty stressed, despite being fully dressed – and Dark blinked at her in a confused manner before blinking.

"No – I wanted to talk with Rogue." Dark corrected her, and Kitty yawned, opening the door wider to reveal an empty room.

"See? No, Rogue - she went down to breakfast at seven – ten minutes ago." Kitty explained, and Dark looked impressed.

"Really? Awesome, St. John, she beat your record of sleep by two hours – she went to sleep at four in the morning." Dark bragged, and St. John merely grunted. Bobby groaned, and the boys left to the garage, coming back to the kitchens _without_ the motor – much to Bobby's relief.

Upon reaching said kitchens, Dark let out a ' _Rogue -y_!' sounding yell, and there was a blur of Dark – and said Dark attached himself to a mousy young woman who had been lifting coffee to her lips.

Three things happened at once.

Rogue had been _planning_ on staying away from the students. She'd wear a t-shirt, with nylon-like material over her arms, but she hadn't been able to get a pair of gloves. The plan being to get some from Xavier later that day – until then she hadn't planned to let anyone touch her skin – and to stay away from those who tried.

Dark, by the sudden jolt of his embrace, had spilled her coffee on her hand – by reaction, she had screamed with surprise – and pain from the newly made hot coffee, and dropped the cup – luckily, it was plastic, so it hadn't broke.

Dark – seeing what he had done, had grabbed Rogue's hand to stop her from hurting herself. Skin met skin – and Rogue's eyes widened – meeting Dark's, Dark gasped – and was forced into the abyss of his mind –unharmed, while Daisuke's personality and body 'jerked' to the surface – letting go of her hand.

To the surrounding students – this was a strange sight, for Dark only let go of his physical form when class started.

What was stranger was that Daisuke's back rippled, looking sickly, he hunched over; with a sickening sound of flesh tearing – his wings, crimson ones, sprung from his back. Rogue's eyes grew wide, and her own wings – black as Dark's, grew from her back – she hissed with the pain of growing new limbs and splitting skin and growing feathers.

"What the _hell_?" St. John muttered looking between the two teens, having gone over to Daisuke who was shivering slightly from the pain and the chill in the kitchen – the sweat forming on his chest and with the heat of the day, causing a conflicting mix of sensations for the red haired boy.

"I-I'm so _sorry_!" Rogue gasped winded from the transformation of growing wings – her shirt ripped up, hugging herself with embarrassment and fear at seeing that Dark was _gone_ ; fearing she'd killed him, and this Daisuke had somehow replaced her friend - she sprinted out of the room.

Daisuke blinked after her, confused, his bloody crimson wings pressed to his back.

"Dai', she doesn't know Dark is still within you!" He heard one of the students yell – even as, knowing this because of Dark, he took off after her.


	4. Within and Without

"I-I'm so _sorry_!" Rogue gasped winded from the transformation of growing wings – her shirt ripped up, hugging herself with embarrassment and fear at seeing that Dark was _gone_ ; fearing she'd killed him, and this Daisuke had somehow replaced her friend - she sprinted out of the room.

Daisuke blinked after her, confused, his bloody crimson wings pressed to his back.

"Dai', she doesn't know Dark is still within you!" He heard one of the students yell – even as, knowing this because of Dark, he took off after her.

Daisuke found Rogue crying near Dark's tree – though she assuredly did not know it was his – wondering what to say to her, he approached walking slowly foreword. He knelt beside her and awkwardly placed his arm around her shoulder – she jerked away wide-eyed.

"Don't touch me, I'm poison!" Rogue sobbed- crawling away from him, drawing her knees to her chest, and wrapping her arms and wings around them - Daisuke flinched at her words, knowing it untrue. Within him Dark started to stir, having been dazed from the absorption, was still there – but how was he to convince Rogue of that?

"No – you're not, it's alright…" Daisuke tried to reassure her, biting his lip at what to do when it didn't appear to work.

"Yes, I am – I killed Dark!" She whispered hoarsely, the clear droplets of her tears rolling down her cheeks.

: **_Oh, Rogue…I'm not dead – Daisuke is just my other half_** …: Dark whispered into Daisuke's mind, wishing he could explain that to Rogue, and the red-headed boy swallowed seeing Rogue's eyes widen.

" _W-what_? Who said that?" Rogue demanded of the smaller boy, recognizing Dark's voice but thinking it could be a cruel trick.

"You can hear him too?" Daisuke asked, cheered that perhaps this was a way to convince Rogue that Dark wasn't as gone as he appeared.

- _Tell her who you are! She can hear you!_ \- Daisuke mentally demanded of Dark who shook off the last of his 'tiredness' to speak to them.

: **_Rogue, it's Dark – this is how I speak with Daisuke when I'm within…do you understand?_** : Rogue's eyes grew wide, and she started to smile.

"I can hear you _both_ – is this really happening in real time, or are you just echoes?" Rogue asked, awed that her powers had tapped this ability from them.

"Real time." Daisuke answered aloud – just as Dark said the same mentally. They could see that Rogue was delighted – if somewhat in fear, of this.

"So your mutant ability is to change into one another and you get wings from it?" Rogue asked uncurling herself – Daisuke found he was relieved, he did not have Dark's ability to deal with emotional women – or emotional anything.

: **_Yap_** ** _, flying is great – you ought to try it while you have the change_**. : Dark told the two of them, and Daisuke blushed – for reminded of the wings, he was reminded that both of their shirts were torn up pretty badly. Rogue seemed to catch his line of thought for she snorted.

"You just want to see my chest." Rogue leered – and since Daisuke, not Dark, was the one to see it, the poor red haired blushed as red as a tomato. Rogue's eyes widened, seeming to realize what she had said – and to whom, and she covered her mouth to hide her grin.

: **_Heh, guess you got more then wings and our minds – you got my ability to flirt. Good for you Mouse, use it well_** …: Dark teased her mentally, a light blush ran over Rogue's cheeks, her wings fluttering with mixed amusement and agitation.

"Well, um, classes start in a bit – you want to grab a banana or something and head to class?" Daisuke asked, at a loss to what to say after Dark's comment and choosing instead to ignore it.

"No! I-I mean, I'd rather not face them again after all that..." Rogue admitted, hating that the other kids – other mutants – now saw her as a freak.

"You know…it's best to just show our faces, tell them a short and simple version of what happened – and be done with it. Otherwise it'll be eating at the back of their minds for forever…" Daisuke warned, having remembered the time he had first arrived at the school and let them think his only ability was to grow wings.

"I suppose your right; it's just so… _personal_." Rogue admitted, bringing foreword one of her wings- half in awe, she smoothed the feathers down – the wing was black, but small hints of purples and deep blues glinted off them in the morning light. It was all very neat, and Rogue knew why she felt it was personal – Dark had been her first friend, and now she had his wings – and some his and Daisuke's mental link.

"Yeah…well, you know what they say about personal things - likely the most gossiped about – a mutant school isn't much different from that, only the talk is a bit more interesting." Daisuke said, grinning, and Rogue smiled back – _that_ was true enough, instead of who had the worst family life or who had done what that weekend; they would hear about Bobby icing his room that morning – or Rogue growing wings after touching Dark – and very likely, the man in the basement of the mansion.

"I bet. Well, when you put it like that – I suppose I haven't a choice." Rogue said with a chuckle – and Daisuke, having it be almost second nature to have his wings, stood easily; Rogue struggled with them – not that they were very heavy – but they were large and awkward – rather like a large backpack. Finally, Daisuke reached down to help her stand – her hand was warm in his, and he allowed himself to smile up at her. She chuckled and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"C'mon bro - lets go see to setting things right with the school kids." Rogue suggested a warm smile tugging on her lips.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

_Elsewhere, With The Brotherhood - Satoshi and Krad_

A boy, only fifteen, lay seemingly asleep on pristine bedding. He had silvery-blue hair, and if he opened his eyes – they would be blue. On the desk beside the bed was a pair of dusty glasses – the only sign that in five years, the boy had not picked them up.

Another teenager – this one eighteen, with blonde hair and amber eyes, watched the younger from the doorway. He was called Krad – and the younger teenager who laid on the bed, his brother – Satoshi – lost in his own memories, he closed his eyes.

He remembered the little boy, who, while he had not been the reason for Satoshi's state – was certainly a key to it.

Daisuke…

" _C-can he live with us, like in my dreams_?" Satoshi had begged of his brother, unknowingly following his elder brothers thoughts. Krad would have craved, even if he hadn't wanted to, his brother was all the family he had left, and he would see him happy.

"Indeed." Krad murmured, taking in the other little boys dirty clothes, and unkempt appearance, and guessing his brothers dream of ' _the red haired boy having no-good parents_ ' or none at all, would be true as well. He assisted his brother out of the 'bed' of cardboard – red and black feathers, blankets. His little brother pulled the other boy up with him.

"What is your name?" Krad demanded of the youngest boy, who looked at Satoshi for permission to continue. Satoshi nodded encouragingly.

"Daisuke…" The red-head murmured softly, Krad nodded curtly, snapped open his cell - and dialed his personal driver to come pick them up. He led the two boys to the alley entrance, and waited for his car, a non-threatening mini-van, for a limo would attract unwanted attention in this part of the city.

The two youngsters climbed into the back with him, and Krad thoroughly, if gently- questioned the younger of the two, even as his own little brother glared at him for doing so.

Krad had decided he _would_ adopt him, and with his resources, it wouldn't be questioned. Especially since the boy was a street-orphan. After a time, the mini-van parked beside a huge palace-like-castle that had Daisuke in awe - and Dark, hidden away within Daisuke's soul - suspicious.

Satoshi had led Daisuke to his room first, and then showed him how two rooms were joined by a door in the bathroom. Daisuke was to take the connecting bedroom.

Both rooms were separate - yet had a joined bathroom, and Daisuke was suitably amazed. Using his dreams, Satoshi and Krad had decorated the room to Daisuke's and Dark's likings. Even Dark was impressed, and Daisuke knew how much of a feat that was.

Satoshi then, with Krad trailing after, went on to show him the kitchen- the playroom - which was more of a play _wing_ \- because the entire east wing of the house was _theirs_. The west and south wings were Krad's personal rooms, which they could enter if they needed to, making the entrance and north wings made up guest quarters. This was all one floor, below was the servants rooms, cellars, and enough 'secret passages', stairways, and rooms, to keep both boys busy exploring.

But that, Satoshi and Krad knew, would be for later. Now it was near dinner, and Satoshi thought it would be amusingly interesting to see Krad's face during dinner. Especially since he didn't think Daisuke had been raised to hold 'manners' high on the to-do list of important things in life.

Daisuke, with vague memories of dinner at his home, mostly followed Satoshi's example when it came to eating at a fancy table with pretty things- that he didn't want to know what they were made of.

Krad _had_ noticed – though much to Satoshi's disappointment, he had remained expressionless; though he did resolve to speak to the boy about having lessons in etiquette with Satoshi.

There seemed too much for the boy to learn, so Krad had broken it down some in his mind. As he was under ten, he was far too small to be older; he would learn etiquette and education first. Then start with languages, riding, and whichever task he favored. Krad noted that his brother _knew_ he was guiding the younger boy through the dinner, and had likely told him to follow his lead previously.

"So, Daisuke, how old are you?" Krad spoke once he had finished eating; Daisuke's startled eyes glanced into his own, and Daisuke muttered something far too soft to hear. Satoshi nudged Daisuke's leg under the table, seeing his brothers annoyed expression.

"I'm- er, seven –sir." Daisuke stated, glaring at Satoshi, a small blush creeping along his cheeks when he turned to see Krad's bemused expression.

"Indeed. I don't suppose you've played many sports…" Krad didn't need an answer, but Daisuke shook his head 'no'. Krad raised an eyebrow, urging the boy to speak his answer aloud.

"No, sir…" Daisuke didn't meet Krad's eyes, and Satoshi looked between his older brother and his best friend – for that was what Daisuke was in his future dreams - and found himself split.

As the meal was finished, Krad had noticed too how much Daisuke had eaten, and seen the boy's expression before he had quickly masked it. Krad decided, quite suddenly, that he needed to do some more thinking. Perhaps see someone on how to train Daisuke's abilities.

"You're both excused; I'll see you for dinner tomorrow, as I have to go on a… business trip tonight." Krad told them as he brought his fingers together over the table, neither boy wasted the time to say good-bye, Krad found that most amusing. If expected.

Krad knew Satoshi knew his phone and cell numbers, having memorized them at a young age - so he wasn't too worried that something would happen to his brother while he was away. It wasn't as if he held anything too terribly dangerous here, most of those experiments were at another location. One of the 'servants' stepped out of the shadows.

Krad glanced at the 'demon eyed' and brown haired young man who had walked so easily from the shadows. He too was a mutant- charging kinetic energy into cards. Although with his duster and sun glasses he looked almost normal.

"Remy – keep them safe while I'm away." Krad told him coldly – bidding his time in trusting the new man, yet knowing all the same that Remy was there to tell him that his jet was ready. Remy tilted his sunglasses down, and gazed at him with serious red-on-black eyes. "Of cours'."

Krad nodded, trusting in them - coat flaring behind him, he left his mansion.

Krad shook his head, and the memories, away. Though he hadn't known it then - that had been the last time Krad seen his brother aware of his surroundings. It was a bitter sweet memory for him. Slowly, Krad sighed, turning from his brother's room, he walked the distance between the back – _private_ – rooms, and Magneto's office that was closer to the hangers.

"Ah, Krad – I must thank you for this lovely island, it is truly _evolutionary_." The man – Magneto – had silvering hair and blue eyes, a survivor of Nazi, and human scorn for what was different.

"As long as it gets back at Xavier – I don't care what you call it." Krad grunted softly as a metal chair slid from Magneto's desk to him – Magneto's way of offering a chat. Krad sat – he avoided looking at the machine he had helped design, a small metal model of it occupying Magneto's desk.

"No change then?" Magneto asked softly as Krad sat, one leg crossing another as he leaned into the back of the chair, his arms crossed.

"If there was, Magneto, I would have my brother back – and know where he has kept Daisuke all these years." Krad allowed him – his white wings flexing as if he might burst into flight and alike to an avenging angel – reign destruction upon those who had wronged him.

"I have told you of the school –" Magneto assured, and Krad closed his eyes, digging up the memories.

"Yet, the ability to get there is blocked from me – yes, I remember your lectures Magneto." Krad hissed, his fingers digging into his arms, frustrated with his inability to set things right on his own.

"Good – I've sent Sabertooth out to retrieve the girl, so it shall not be long now…" Magneto assured – but it was not to be that simple, for Sabertooth arrived without her – and Krad sat by, allowing Magneto to do as he pleased to Sabertooth.

Inwardly, he _seethed_ at Xavier's ability to do as he liked while Krad could do nothing without Xavier somehow knowing of it.


	5. The Nightmare That Was Real

Bobby and St. John shared a glance when Daisuke returned with Rogue at his heels. For all that Daisuke was younger – he was looked after, rather then bullied. Largely this was because of Dark befriending most of the more vengeful misfits – but Daisuke had his own kind of charm that rubbed off on people.

There was that though it had taken a while for the students to understand that for all they shared a body – Dark was not Daisuke, and could keep a secret. With Daisuke's assurance that Dark was alright – merely having been startled, things returned to their regular pace.

A blushing Daisuke was yanked down to sit beside Kitty – and Rogue looked somewhat confused that he would instead of rejoin Bobby and St. John. St. John raised an eyebrow, as if that was proof enough. Bobby huffed slightly, and then nodded his agreement – before anyone noticed they'd whisked Rogue away from the organized chaos that was the kitchen.

"What the hell has gotten into you two?" Rogue demanded once in the hall – her eye were narrowed, her arms and legs crossed as she leaned against the wall. She could have been a poster child for "The Not Happy Teenager". Yet - having cornered her and that mornings 'incident' was still fresh in their minds – Bobby and St. John glared at one another to see which would first begin.

"Well – uh, you see – we wanted to make sure you understood that – um…" Bobby for all that he had 'broken' first – trailed off, looking helplessly to St. John. With a slightly frustrated sigh, St. John interrupted before Bobby could get himself smacked.

"Dark _isn't_ Daisuke – they aren't even split personalities, they are two very different people who happen to share a body. We – uh, just wanted to make sure you knew that before you expected Daisuke to treat you the same as Dark does." St. John said, somewhat sheepishly, for Rogue looked about ready to roll her eyes, mutter 'duh!' – and stomp off as most girls St. John was familiar with were wont to do when needlessly singled out.

Rogue surprised him though, when she spoke and it wasn't a cussword or reprimand.

"Is that why Daisuke didn't acknowledge you two in favor of that girl?" She asked, sounding perfectly reasonable – Bobby nodded, his hand running through his hair. St. John noticed Rogue watch the movement and inwardly rolled his eyes – a reasonable girl – and like all the others, she had still fallen for Bobby before seeing him.

Not that he _really_ cared – watching Dark out charm Bobby was amusing as hell.

"Yeah – we're _Dark's friends_ – and while we'd stick up for Daisuke if he needed it – Kitty is his crush." Bobby murmured, his gaze amused, flicking to St. John, who grunted softly.

"St. John thinks it's because she's the only girl in the mansion who doesn't openly admire Dark." Bobby added when it became apparent that St. John wasn't interested in their idle chit-chat anymore.

When St. John meant to leave them in the hall to get some breakfast – Rogue again surprised him by following, Bobby though, kept her from talking to him, her attention as it was, strained with Bobby talking with her as they walked.

If St. John had indeed needed any more proof that Bobby liked Rogue in "that way" – the ice rose would have cleared things up – as it was, it was an annoyance – one he took some joy in outdoing. Bobby was pouting – he claimed it was glaring, but Bobby just didn't have the face to be that serious – while Rogue looked on, amused.

Together, St. John and Bobby managed to keep Rogue from thinking about the man in the basement of the mansion that they knew had come in with her. But, despite their best combined efforts, towards the end of the day, Rogue had grown distinct.

St. John would have thought less of her if she hadn't, but Bobby seemed particularly dismayed and by midday his lack of interest in what was happening around him – for all his attention was focused on Rogue – was noticeable even to their teachers.

It was a sign of how quickly things had gotten out of hand that St. John was bullied into asking Daisuke, at lunch, to 'summon' up Dark's attention and ask his advice. And while Dark seemed to know why – for Daisuke had let slip that Dark did not to indulge his curiosity where Rogue was concerned, Dark was still unwilling to share the secrets of his friends – even with Daisuke.

For a moment, St. John was grateful – Dark and Bobby had been his first true friends at the institute – and he would hate to think he could not trust Dark.

Bobby, though, was frustrated – he could see in his friends every movement - nothing he did seemed to get through to Rogue – and for all the enthusiasm he offered up for the lessons, Rogue opted more and more to sit at the back of the class.

All St. John knew to do was to follow Bobby around, offer encouragement – and rack his brain for something he would do to get Dark or Bobby out of a rut – he could think of nothing, for all too often it was one of the two of them pulling St. John out of his moody episodes.

He had never been on the receiving end of one – but now that he had, he was particularly glad he still had friends.

Then, _after_ all that whirlwind of emotion – it was over in a moment.

It was a moment St. John would never forget, they'd been playing Foozball – and then a wild haired man walked into the lobby – Rogue spotted him right off and then there was hugging. Bobby, looking faintly disturbed – and St. John didn't have to ask to know why, the man Rogue was hugging had to be twice her age – in the least.

'Dad?' Bobby mouthed, glancing at them, St. John shook his head – it wasn't that type of connection. He didn't know what type of connection it was – hero worship, if Bobby was lucky – but as he watched, St. John saw Bobby frown. For the first time in all the time he had known Bobby – the other teen looked truly upset.

Then Rogue was dragging the man over to them, gesturing – though they could not hear her words over the sudden noise of conversation from the rest of the students in the lobby. It was a nervous noise – jittery, and most of the students about St. John's and Bobby's age were wary, readying for a fight.

St. John knew he had to defuse the situation before it worsened.

"Bobby – St. John, this is Wolverine. Later, Wolverine, you have to meet Dark…" Rogue continued on in this manner – not seeming to notice that Wolverine – where most would shake hands – had inhaled, his nostrils flaring. It left both boys with a sense that they had just been… _sniffed_ , (which threw Bobby off, made St. John wish he was somewhere else) and passed some sort of initiation test; _then_ came the hand shaking.

The wild-man who went by the name of Wolverine had way too strong a grip to be 'normal' – and St. John knew this personally having tested it - for all he looked it, the two relaxed when they realized that, like Rogue and themselves – this man was another mutant.

The rest of the day was spent showing Wolverine around the school – which neither of them minded, having nothing better to do until sundown – when Dark would show again.

Show Dark did, though Bobby likely would have preferred not to have been startled out of his wits by his sudden appearance from out of-no-where. But – as it _was_ amusing for St. John to see – Dark didn't let Bobby start before he had.

"Let's go exploring." Dark declared with a somewhat cheesy grin, Bobby was glaring darkly at him.

"What are we? Ten?" Bobby grumbled, and St. John gave a weary grin.

"You sure scream like you are." Bobby grinned at him – but the sudden flash of teeth was anything but friendly. St. John was reminded of a dog, but kept the comparison to him self.

"Enough, children – how was Rogue's first day?" Dark asked, hands in his pockets as he went toward the kitchen. It was predictable – for whenever Dark was about, he was somehow hungry.

St. John thought it had something to do with the energy required to change his physical body twice or more a day – but it would sound far too geeky to speculate about with Bobby trying to nick St. John's dinner from his plate. For all that Bobby must have been better off in the 'real world' then he was – Bobby sure didn't act as if that were a fact.

"Well – she was worried about Wolverine though most of it." Bobby answered carelessly – as he poured cereal into a bowl, passing it to St. John when he was done.

" _Who_?" Dark asked, frowning – his eyes narrowed as he plucked a banana from the counter.

"That guy they brought in with Rogue – the one that's been in the basement since she came?" St. John elaborated, shrugging when Bobby looked somewhat surprised to hear him speak. Save when Dark was around, St. John mostly watched – it was one of the reasons he, Bobby, and Dark were such a great team.

"Oh – she knows him well then?" Dark inquired eyes downcast as his thoughts raced.

"Well enough to hug him." Bobby grumbled, 'pouting' at his food – St. John snorted.

"Aw, Bobby's jealous – isn't that cute Dark, his first real bite with love?" St. John teased mercilessly – Bobby snarled at him – and while doing so a fist filled with crushed cereal raised threatening.

" _Bad_ , Bobby – you don't threaten your friends." St. John mocked – Bobby rolled his eyes, but let the cereal fall into the trash, guilt having caught up with his actions.

"Shut up, _Johnny_ …" Bobby grumbled and St. John rolled his eyes, letting them fall on Dark, who looked to have ignored the whole scene. It was then that they knew that this was truly bothering Dark.

"It something the matter, man?" Bobby asked – wary, things were suddenly silent – and the air was stifling.

"Nah, only wondering who he is, is all." _And what he wants with Rogue_ ; it had remained unspoken – though the three of them knew each other well enough to know even the unspoken.

"Well, whoever he is – I'll say this about him," St. John began, and Dark looked up at him, his eyes curious at what his normally silent friend would say, "he _smelled_ us before he shook hands." St. John tone was oddly insulted, and the three broke down laughing - St. John was glad he had been right – all Dark had needed to break the tension in his eyes was a little humor.

All of it was shattered with a scream – and yells for help. The three of them took off running toward the guest quarters – behind them they had a moment to hear the pounding of footsteps that were following them. Dark slipped on the slick surface of the tiles, his wings sprouting from his back to keep him balanced.

Dark got there first – flinging the door open wide, he did not pause inside the entrance – he kept going in, and Bobby and St. John followed him in.

"Oh, God…" One of them had spoken – neither Bobby nor St. John was sure which of them it had been later. What they saw – and smelt – was blood, thick red blood, was soaking Rogue's nightclothes. It was very obvious where they had come from - Rogue had been impaled by the _knives_ that were coming out of Wolverine's knuckles. Wolverine looked at them – he looked as if he had seen a ghost – which Rogue looked to be turning into.

"What the _hell_ happened?" Dark who was beside Rogue, demanded – he was being careful to touch only her clothes, his words past those first spoken were a blur of curses and half-hearted reassurances.

"I had a…nightmare; I think she was coming to check on me…" Wolverine offered up the whispered explanation, though he seemed reluctant to take his eyes from Rogue's crumpled form - Bobby and St. John had never felt more helpless then right at that moment. With the stain in Dark's eyes – he echoed their feelings.

"God-damn-it, we need a healer!" Dark screeched at the crowd that was gathering at the door, his eyes were fevered – he was struggling with himself – torn.

For all that Bobby and St. John had stood beside Wolverine; they could not have stopped him when he jerked into motion – grasping Rogue's smaller hand in his larger one. Dark cradled Rogue in his lap – remembering how Rogue had spoke of how quickly Wolverine healed. For the first time, he felt a moment of hope.

There was no reaction, and Wolverine let out a half-sob, sinking to his knees – between them they cradled her, touching her hair and shoulders - hoping to bring her back from death.

St. John was the one to notice when they suddenly stiffened – still as corpses – he jerked into action, unwilling to lose Dark – or for Rogue to have the burden of Wolverine's death upon her shoulders. Unceremoniously, he heaved her away from them, having gripped her nightgown. She was gasping – alive, healed.

It was more then he could say for Wolverine – or Dark, who, although conscious, he almost wished they weren't for how much they looked to be suffering from injuries years old having reopened afresh wash of blood dripping onto the floor.

The teachers took control then – shooing away the students - taking away Dark and Wolverine.

Bobby, St. John, and Rogue spent the rest of the night wide awake – gathered together in the boys room, the only words were Rogue's as she told them all she remembered of taking a part of Dark into her – in return, she told them of how she met Wolverine.

It seemed pathetic, even then – but all they hoped for – that everything turning out "alright" - clung to the words they shared that night.


	6. Sinister Similarity

 

_Bobby, St. John, and Rogue spent the rest of the night wide awake – gathered together in the boys room, the only words were Rogue's as she told them all she remembered of taking a part of Dark into her – in return, she told them of how she met Wolverine._

_It seemed pathetic, even then – but all they hoped for – that everything turning out "alright" - clung to the words they shared that night._

Rogue paced back and forth, uncertain for the longest time about what to do with memories that weren't her own. Yet she had felt apart of them, as if they were hers. Bobby watched her every movement, as a cat might watch a bird, worried and twitching in his seat. St. John, he'd closed his eyes, laid down on his bed, but was awake, click-click-click went his lighter, like the beat of a drum for Rogue to keep pace with.

"What will they do? With, with Dark?" Rogue finally asked into the hushed room.

"Depends on if he's dead or not, is my guess." St. John said, not turning his head from the ceiling. He didn't see Rogue's stricken look, or Bobby toss him a glare.

"He's not, he can't be!" Rogue protested, but she didn't know, not truly. She'd never killed anyone before, sent them into a coma, yes – but killed, no, never. Yet she just might have, this time, her powers might have killed to keep her alive.

"What do your powers do?" Bobby asked, for it had become obvious that there was more to them than taking, if her powers had saved her life – there was something she gained from them beyond a defense or offense.

"I, I don't really know, they seem just to, to take." Rogue paused in her pacing, looking to where St. John lay and where Bobby sat watching her.

"Take what, exactly? I saw what you touch Dark, that first time, took his wings – yeah, but also brought out Daisuke. This time, you touch Wolverine and heal – that's his power, right enough. This time there's no wings – but Daisuke isn't running about either…what's different?" St. John pressed, eyes flicking to her accusing and curious.

Bobby bit his bottom lip thoughtfully, nibbling, wondering if Rogue would answer – how she would answer.

"I don't rightly know, alright? Sometimes, it's powers, other times it's other things." Rogue didn't know how to explain it, but she would try to.

"Like what other things?" St. John pressed, determined to hear it.

"Thoughts, okay? Memories, mostly – the first time I did this, I was kissing my boyfriend, and I saw how he remembered me, thought of me…loved me. With Dark, that first time, it was just powers – so, I guess it just works different the first touch between mutants and normal people." Rogue struggled to put into words her powers, which she hadn't yet begun to understand. She hoped here she could learn, but now they might kick her out.

"What did you take?" Bobby asked softly, worriedly, still watching her. St. John glanced to him, and Bobby saw the look in his eye. It was the flicker of hate for her.

"It…it's Dark's memory, I think, but there is so much more, it's like it was buried, forgotten; a part of who he is, a part of his personality." Rogue looked to St. John and knew she might have said too much for him to ever easily forgive her.

"Can you give it back?" Bobby pressed, sounding sick.

"I, no, I don't know?" Rogue ran her fingers though her hair, tangling stray strands in her nails. There was a knock on the door, and Kitty's face pressed through the wood.

"Oh, good, I've found all three of you!" Kitty's smile was hesitant, but Rogue returned it, glad someone wasn't afraid to smile at her. Kitty phased the rest of the way through the door, stepping into the room and looking about it. It was clear enough she wasn't impressed by Bobby's and St. John's cleaning and decorating habits.

"Well, Wolverine's going to be fine, sort of sleeping it off now." Kitty told Rogue, who nodded, than looked to Bobby and St. John and back to Kitty, worried for Dark – who Kitty hadn't said anything about.

"And… Dark?" Rogue pressed, Kitty frowned, eyes flicking to the floor.

"Professor Xavier and Jean can't reach them. It's like, like they are stuck in some sort of loop, a labyrinth Jean called it, of a memory they…don't know the ending of?" Kitty shook her head, baffled by the way their teachers had explained it. Kitty only knew because she had been able to help get the both of them to the medical lab before anyone else, her phasing coming in handy.

Rogue's eyes widened.

"I…I think I do! I know that memory!" Rogue stepped toward the door, but Kitty stood in her way and shook her head.

"They won't let you see them Rogue. It's…it's just, not done, alright?" Kitty put her hands on the sleeves of Rogue's shouldered nightdress. It was white, and the blood stood out, dark and browning like something burnt.

"I can help, I have ta' help!" Rogue blinked tears from her eyes, frustrated, her accent drawling out her words. Kitty blinked back her own tears, hugging the other girl to her, heedless of any risk.

"It'll be alright, there isn't anything you can do for Dark that they can't do." Kitty promised softly in the curl of Rogue's dark hair.

"I know…I know… how the memory ends." Rogue struggled to say, gasping to words out. She couldn't let herself cry, not with Bobby and St. John watching. She felt bad enough, having two boys who she barely knew see her like this was worse – but it would be unbearable if they saw her cry. Kitty shushed her, holding her fearlessly, seeming to understand her torment.

- _It's …it's alright Rogue_ …- Rogue stiffened in Kitty's arms, tense and listening.

"Dai'?" This too had happened before, she recalled as she sniffled, and took a step back from Kitty who looked at her in confusion. Rogue wiped her eyes and nose, now smiling.

"Before, when I touched Dark, I could hear them – Dark and Daisuke, could hear them talking to each other and I could talk to them too." Rogue met the eyes of each of them, determined that they know she spoke the truth. Slowly, St. John nodded acceptance of her words, the last to do so, and the last to look hopeful.

"You hear him, you hear Dark?" Bobby asked her, frowning only a little.

"No, Dai' – Daisuke." Rogue thought of the little red haired boy, and a flash of memory came to her – not her memory, his.

_"C-can he live with us, like in my dreams?"_

_"Indeed."_

_"What is your name?"_

_"Daisuke…"_

"What, what was that?" Rogue demanded, of Daisuke – but none of the three who now stared at her knew what to make of her words.

"What was what?" Kitty asked, worried and frowning. Rogue touched her ears.

"I heard…I heard voices?" Rogue shook her head, as if those voices from Daisuke's past could be gotten rid of like flies.

- _I…I am sorry, I need to know more_. – Rogue understood that Daisuke thought this the only way to find Dark, yet his mind was like a spear, driving into her, seeking to find its target and heedless of what barriers might mean.

Rogue cried out, falling to her knees, hands on her eyes and ears, as she recalled memories that were not hers.

"Rogue, Rogue, can you hear me?" Bobby demanded, touching her and trying to reach her.

"Get help!" St. John demanded of Kitty, and Rogue knew Kitty had gone, the sight of her fleeing the last bit of vision that truly belonged to her, to the here and now.

Krad was silver and gold, and cold. Daisuke looked at him and knew he _couldn't_ be surprised at life; he'd lived it all before, over and over. All that kept it from being a bore was Satoshi. Who had the Sight, and could prophesy.

The future was not set in stone and none knew that better than Krad. Satoshi kept things from getting old, Krad could change time, could take things – but he could not make them. So her sought protection from what was what could be, and found it all…wanting. He lost little pieces of his soul in seeking perfection, and so grew cold though he did not grow old.

He told them about his time, his lives, as if it were a fairy tale bedtime story.

Daisuke remembered those bedtime stories now.

Krad had what most people took for granted would make him happy, wealth and money and a mansion at the edge of a city. He had a family he had chosen, his little brother Satoshi whose hair was off silver that made it the shade of the sky in the right light. Krad had Daisuke too.

They _would be_ a family, Krad had told Daisuke and Dark, the greatest and most powerful family in the world. It was destiny; this was to be their dynasty.

Krad, of course, had hired people working in the mansion that was their home, and one of them was a red and black eyed man named Remy. It was not that Remy was to be trusted, Krad told them (but they did trust Remy). It was simply better to keep Remy close.

Daisuke never quite understood why, until it was too late.

It was a word, over and over; a word that became a name and the name was…

 _-…Sinister_. – Daisuke hissed, reaching deeper, and Rogue saw it.

Remy – no, Sinister, looked into Daisuke's eyes, and changed the world as Krad knew it, as it could be. He took away Daisuke …and Satoshi who had already bonded to the boy, Satoshi being alike a ship who needed Daisuke like a anchor in a storm, the bond being as brother and friend and more, screamed and cried until he fell asleep and did not awake.

He could not wake to a world without Daisuke to live in it.

Sinister made certain that there would never be a Daisuke in Satoshi's world. He took away Daisuke, and took away the winged boys memories. He'd only remember Remy, thief and friend, in the years between streets and Xavier's sheets.

Sinister tucked him into them, certain that Daisuke would never know a world with Satoshi in it. He'd never know where to look.

 _-Dark_ ….- Rogue blinked, wiping memories from her eyes. She knew Daisuke had seen everything as she had.

- _Dark, why, why did you never tell me_? - Daisuke demanded, but within the memories there was no answer.

"Maybe, maybe he was trying to protect you Dai'…" Rogue spoke softly, looking about herself. There was Wolverine sitting by her bedside, in a stiff metal chair, and she was in the lab.

"Like he tried to protect me…." Memories lapped between Daisuke and Rogue, like the waves washing upon unknown shores. Rogue knew what she had to do; she had to find Satoshi and Krad. Dark might never wake without their help. Dark was protecting Daisuke, even now – it was why Daisuke could not take his body back, why neither Jean nor Xavier could call to him. Why only she heard Daisuke.

She'd taken a bit of Dark into her, and she had to give them back something to replace what he'd lost in trying to save her. So he'd know that Daisuke would be safe.

She had to face who Wolverine had tried to protect her from. That man with long cat teeth and a dirty yellow mane of hair.

Rogue got up, and crept away like a shadow in the dark.


	7. Fateful Meetings and Happenings

Wolverine is the only name he knows to call himself. He's sure that when he was born his parents gave him another name, one that's just like everyone else's and isn't an animal, but Wolverine is all it says on his tags, so Wolverine he is until he finds out the truth of it. He inhales before he wakes, and the scent of soap, of disinfectant and metals that no one likes to name, and he knows just by the smell of the place that he's in the lab.

He twitches awake, his eyes going to the bed beside him – empty, Rogue's scent fading minute by minute – and that makes his heart speed up. Yet there is a scent and he can follow it, if the girl didn't just get up and go to the bathroom. There isn't a reason to stir up a fuss, not just yet.

Wolverine's eyes go to the other bed, full of the tall dark haired boy, called simply enough – Dark, and with his royal purple eyes closed, shutting out the world. His hair is the kind of dark that catches light and makes it shine a color anyone off the street would swear as purple as those eerie eyes.

He hasn't so much as twitched or done much of anything since being brought down here but breathed – and at least there's still that, Wolverine knows Rogue feels guilty enough as it is.

Wolverine gets up from the chair, stretching his arms up above his head -telling himself sternly and silently to be calm, Rogue is a smart girl – she wouldn't go off and do something stupid. She'd stick around and make things right. Wolverine likes that about her, she's stubborn. Like himself.

Wolverine knows he has trust issues, but he has them for good reasons. He's almost sure of that, what with the way the man with teeth and claws and yellow hair had looked at him, had seemed to recognize him. A thrill of something had gone rushing through Wolverine. Part recognition, yes, and part challenge too. Wolverine knew danger when he felt it, saw it.

He follows the lingering smell of Rogue; her shampoo is something lavender, faint but there. Wolverine likes it about Rogue that she doesn't bother much about perfume or make up. That he knows her smell isn't any kind of insult, but has to do with his mutation- more animalistic than advanced humanity, and the fact that he'd picked her up and given her a ride. He'd felt reasonable for her, protective, and a pitying sympathy that had led him to help her out.

Wolverine wondered if that sympathy was what wolves had felt for the huddled masses of humanity before they'd come to be called dogs.

Wolverine stops just outside the gates of the manor that serves as a school, the street snatches up Rogue's scent as well as her crossing a river. There is a bus stop here, where any student could wait for the bus to take them away and into town.

He snarls, soft and deep. He hasn't got the time to wait for the bus, or to go back and tell the X-Men that they'd lost Rogue. If they had been paying attention while Wolverine had been unaware, this wouldn't have happened to start with. A part of him scolds himself for trusting them with his charge, for sleeping to start with.

He starts to run, and hopes he is on time.

Rogue really doesn't have a destination in mind. What she knows is simple, that she's got to find Krad, and to do that she has to get away from Dark. She knows she's being hunted, and while she doesn't want to get caught, she's got a feeling it's all somehow connected, the strands tie together like some wide net or web.

Rogue is good at running away though, and isn't really surprised to find herself at a train station. If someone is going to look for her, finding her here is as good a place to be found as any. Here she'll get a look at them, and she might – just might, be able to get away again, to attract attention by yelling for help and running like a mad hatter down a hole.

Rogue sits on a bench, a little out of the way, close to the tunnels, and as she pulls back a strand of hair with her fingers, she sees something in the shadows moving. Rogue keeps her eyes on the people under the bright florescent lights, she tries her best not to flinch or look again.

A man comes out of the dark and sits at her side; he's got black and red eyes, demon's eyes. His smile is easy and familiar, teasing.

"H'llo, Rogue-y." Rogue looks at him from the corner of her eyes, not quite daring to turn her head and look. She recognizes him, from Dark's memories. He's Remy… _Sinister_. Gambit. She doesn't dare wonder what he's gambling at, or what the odds are now of her getting free of this mess she's made for herself.

He knows, somehow, that she knows who he is.

"What do you want?" Rogue asks, knuckles whitening around the strap of her bag, the only thing in the world she can truly call hers.

"Tha' be the first question?" Remy tilts his head toward her, as if she'll answer in a whisper. The red of his eyes gleams almost playfully. His brown hair mixes with her own hairs, and that's how close he is against her side. What they must look like, like lovers or…Rogue shakes the thought away. He's dangerous and she knows it, must respect that.

Rogue doesn't answer, but she does nod her head.

"It's simple enough, chere. I want to live. Remy noticed something, he don't fit. Not in time, I don't know who seeded me, or birthed me, but I've got my suspicions now. I might be a clone of Sinister, or Sinister might be me. Doesn't matter much, but it matters to me." Rogue looked over the crowd of people, none of them suspecting a thing.

"I've never done anything to you." Remy blinks and looks away, bowing his head for a moment as if weighing the truth in what Rogue says.

"True enoug', that." Remy says, as if he regrets it.

"So why are you doing this to meh?" Rogue wishes her words hadn't betrayed her stress so much.

"Magneto wants you to make this world a world of mutants, for them, by them. Krad just wants to hurt Xavier, because of Dark and Daisuke. Not that I can blame him. I can't let Krad have them. I'm truly sorry." Rogue sees his hands, how light twists out from between his fingers, it is red like blood, and throbs like a heartbeat. She wonders if he truly is sorry, she saw what taking Daisuke had done to Satoshi.

If this is how she dies, Rogue decides to not close her eyes, but to look the red eyed devil in the eyes as he kills her. Remy must sense her staring, and he looks up to meet her gaze, startled that she's as bold as all that.

Her fingers tighten against the strap of her bag, barehanded. Rogue waits until she knows he won't look away, and slaps him, hard, across the face. It stuns him, and more than stuns him.

Her skin to his skin, he lets out a keening gasp that could have been a scream…if he had had the breath. Rogue watches the flicker of red light about his hands die, and lets him go; he's slumped down on the bench as if sleeping off something alcoholic.

Rogue stands up and gets on a train that she knows will go where she needs to be. She's seen the place that Krad – and Magneto – call theirs. She knows her danger, but hopes that she's doing the right thing. For their sake, for Dark and for Daisuke – and for Satoshi, who she's never met but who has been waiting for them to return, all along, for all this time. She can't imagine sleeping the world away in waiting. Yet that's what coma does, and Rogue ought to know, as she sent her boyfriend into that kind of slumber.

It isn't quite as much a surprise as it ought to be, that when the train starts to move, Wolverine sits down at her side, half smiling. He's pleased with himself, she thinks. As if this is a game, a bit of hide and seek, and he's found her and it's his turn to play.

"We should go back, no one blames you, you know that don't you?" Rogue bows her head; she can admit that she feels guilty and ashamed of what she'd done. Yet it was a personal guilt, not something her peers could press her into.

"I'm not doing this to run away." Rogue told Wolverine about her boyfriend, and her home in Mississippi. How much she misses it, and how she knows she can never go back to it.

"What's it about?" Wolverine asks, looking about the train. He feels uneasy, but it isn't about being on the train and going even further away from where he wants to take Rogue. He knows how city trains work, with their set destinations and timetables. They only have to sit and wait and they'll be back to where they started. It's something else that makes him uneasy, a smell.

"Dark and Daisuke, I'm doing this to help them." Wolverine can't see how all this is helping some boy sleeping in a school, but he nods and is sure that it makes sense to Rogue. Something of his doubt must shadow his eyes, for she rolls her.

Wolverine inhales, about to speak, when he pauses, smelling it again - _familiar_. But where?

"What is it?" Rogue asks, looking about now – and he has a moment to be proud of her, that she's learnt him better than most ever do.

"There!" Wolverine says, recalling with that scent - long teeth and claws and yellow hair. It isn't wholly him, it's _them_.

The train grinds to a stop, metal screeching and people screaming, and a man under a metal helmet smiles at them as he steps onto the train as if it's stopping for him. It is, Rogue realizes with a touch of dread.

There is a blue woman at his side – her skin is blue, she isn't sad – she's actually beaming at Rogue as if pleased to meet her, and the long toothed fellow is simply leering at Wolverine, as if he's on the winner's side. Rogue has only ever heard this man's name – but she's sure he is who she thinks.

"Magneto…." Rogue says, and the helmeted man nods his head, mockingly, as if pleased to meet her. Wolverine growls at them one and all, and with a wave of Magneto's hand, Wolverine is suddenly flung and held against the wall of the train, as if he's a magnet that's been caught.

"My dear." Magneto greets her, looking over Wolverine as if wondering at the company she keeps.

"You'll take me to Krad?" That's been the whole point of this, Rogue has to remind herself. To get to Krad, so Krad can help Dark, because they are like two halves of a whole – why else would Krad's name be Dark spelt backward? Rogue has to believe that, clings to it as she stands before these three who could hurt her; it's all she has to make her strong.

Magneto studies her, and his eyes are grey like the silver lining of storm clouds.

"A curious request, but I will grant it if you come quietly." Rogue looks back at Wolverine only once, and her heart breaks because he looks at her as if he can't believe what she's doing, betraying him. Yet he doesn't hate her.

Rogue takes a step near the blue skinned woman's side, and finds herself looking into a face that twin to her own. Side by side, they go to where a mutant with green hued skin is waiting for them, with a helicopter. He looks at her, at the both of them, frowning a bit in confusion and curiosity.

"Which one is she, Sabertooth?" He asks of the yellow haired man, who sighs at the question. It seems this mutant is one to ask a lot of them.

"Take a long look and guess, Toad." He does just that, if it helps or not Rogue doesn't know and just when she thinks he might give up he sticks his tongue out, it's a long one, long enough to wave – when Rogue jumps, not expecting it – he sucks it back in and grins at her alone.

"Hullo, there – charmed, I'm sure." He winks, oozing confidence.

"Start it up, we don't want company." Rogue's look-alike suggests, and with a comical salute he does as she says.

"Ma'am, yes, Ma'am Mystique!" Despite the mocking, he flies very well for someone called Toad. Rogue doesn't say anything, looking down at her bare hands, clasped in her lap.

It will be, she knows, the longest flight of her life. She only hopes it is not the last.


	8. Miscellaneous Memories

Bobby looked at the empty chair and the empty bed as if, if he looked at them hard enough, they would be filled. St. John knew better and looked to Kitty, patting Bobby on the shoulder in as comforting manner as he could.

"Well, where'd they get to?" It wasn't exactly hard for Kitty to spy on people without their noticing it. She didn't advertise it, but St. John knew very well how much Kitty _knew_ , and how much she might say – would never add up in the end.

"Well, only one of them has been found. Jean and Scott found the Wolverine there; apparently Magneto had magnetized his skeleton, ouch, yeah?" Kitty shivered a little, going through walls was no big deal to her – but being closed in against them? Kitty was a little claustrophobic, and not afraid to admit to it.

"Yeah, but did he say anything about Rogue…?" Bobby's eyes glanced toward where Dark lay; a cot he wished was empty. It wasn't right that he was so still and asleep. Bobby had never seen Dark asleep around anyone, it made him uneasy, and with the way that St. John kept glancing around – he wasn't the only one.

"Oh, plenty…. He thinks she's gone over to Magneto's side, out of some brain-washed attempt to help Dark." Kitty shook her head, not imagining _how_ what Rogue was doing could help anyone but Magneto and his Brotherhood.

St. John ran his fingers through his hair, this was a mess already, and one he thought wasn't going to get any better. He wished that Dark would just wake up and make all this better, because St. John wasn't foolish enough to think that anyone could make it all just go away.

"Could it work?" St John asked softly, and when he felt Bobby and Kitty looking at him, hunched his shoulders defensively.

"You both saw her; she was remembering Dark's memories. Those are memories I don't think that Dark and Daisuke were aware of…" St. John went silent, with that quiet stubbornness demanding an answer from them in return for his words.

"Let's say your right, Rogue has a reason to go looking for…whoever, but why would Magneto take her?" Bobby asked in turn, a question that St. John couldn't answer. Just like no one could answer his own question. There was only so far that _what ifs_ and _whys_ would take them. St. John and Bobby both worried that they'd reached that limit. They just didn't know what to do about it next.

They both liked Rogue and wanted to believe the best about her, wanted to believe she could somehow make Dark and Daisuke better. Kitty looked to the hallway, the only one paying attention to their surroundings, and because she looked St. John and Bobby looked as well, seeing Jean and Scott and Storm wheeling a man on a stretcher in a rush of wheels and words, Professor Xavier wasn't far behind them.

"Who is that?" Kitty asked him, puzzled, as it seemed to her that she should – for some reason, recognize him.

"Our very own Senator Kelly, quite…changed." It was a change that Xavier was clearly confused about it's meaning, either being a good or bad thing.

"You three had best head upstairs." Charles Xavier instructed, St. John was ready to protest on the pretense of being at Dark's side, but Bobby elbowed him in his side so all he did was grunt. Bobby nodded toward Kitty, and Kitty winked at him from behind the Professor's back.

"Yes, sir…." Bobby agreed, as if St. John's grunt had been some kind of acknowledged agreement. They left, and Kitty went with them as far as the other side of the door, when she turned back and went thorough the walls, hiding behind bulky medical equipment beside the wall. It was there where she watched, waited, and listened until Kelly died the breath he expelled becoming a wave of fluid that Kitty fled from.

She was shivering as she made her way through walls and halls and phasing through people too as she rushed to get as far away from what had happened below as she could. Her feet took her up, and to Bobby and St. John's room. Not bothering to knock, she only shook off the sickening dread when she heard St. John yelp.

Already shaken, she froze, fearing to see something else today that was terrible.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Bobby demanded, coming out of the bathroom they shared. He saw Kitty from the corner of his eye and turned to look at her fully with a puzzled frown. Kitty sniffled, half feeling like she wanted to laugh and like she wanted to cry, at Bobby's worried look and St. John's wide eyes – she realized she was crying.

Hastily and angry at herself, she wiped them away, Kelly hadn't been a nice man, it was true that he would probably have wanted to see her identified in some way, away from normal people – see Bobby and St. John and everyone at the school caged away. He wasn't worth her tears.

"Sure, scare a guy and cry." St. John tried to tease, seeing that Kitty was struggling to contain her feelings and not wanting to tip her over the edge one way or the other. Though personally St. John would rather she gets angry. If it has to be at him, well, at least it wasn't crying.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to burst in here like this, it's rude, it's just…" Kitty shrugged away what she was going to say in rambling, clearing her thoughts with the action.

"Kelly just died, but before he did he says Magneto _made_ him into a mutant…with some kind of metal-machine. Freaky enough, right? He just…didn't survive it. From what he says, it hurt Magneto too." Kitty finds her eyes flinching to the floor. Bobby and St. John don't need her to say it, that Rogue's power is to take another mutants ability – however temporarily – and Magneto seems bent on taking advantage of that.

"That's crazy; who would he use it on?" St. John muttered, Bobby caught sight of the television screen with its news station, the words along the bottom proclaiming a meeting between nations held near Lady Liberty, who stood proudly with torch aloft and tablet of law tucked protectively under her arm. Her foot unchained.

St. John nervously flicked his lighter on and off.

"They need to see this." Bobby announced, and he led the way as they headed to the loft to do just that. To show the X-Men where they needed to go, Magneto wasn't one to miss an opportunity like this.

Rogue's head feels heavy, weighted and awkward, as if she's swimming. Or drowning, she leans her head against the cool glass window of the helicopter, keeping her eyes closed. She tries to put aside the sounds of the blades circling the air, slicing into the ether to keep them aloft. It can't quite be ignored.

- _Rogue, are you alright_? - Daisuke's voice rings through her mind, like the chiming of a bell. Rogue thinks he's been with her all along; only he's been watching and absorbing it all.

 _'What do you make of all this_?' Rogue asks, between them they've shared memories perhaps better left forgotten. Yet neither of them can put aside these memories, for what they might mean – the past for Dark and Daisuke, and now, in saving Dark. It's a chance Rogue has to take, as heavy and unyielding as it seems. Like King Sisyphus's boulder in the Underworld.

- _They want freedom, is what I think_.- It flashes through Rogue's mind, a woman with a sharp kitchen knife, intent on hacking off Daisuke's already red wings. Rogue shudders at the thought of such a personal and familiar attack. Her family had had better reason to fear her power, but they had not had to lift a hand against her to get her to go, she'd fled all on her own.

Yet there had to be people less like her, and more like Daisuke – and maybe, maybe she was looking at them right now.

Rogue closes her eyes, and Toad lands the helicopter with only a little bit of a jolt. Mystique, who still wares her face, pats her knee comfortingly.

"Fight time flying?" Rogue's sense of deja-vu, of being in two places at once has never been as strong as when her own voice kindly asks her words she's never spoken before. Her own face smiles in sympathy. Rogue nods, feeling as if it's better that she doesn't speak. She thinks, wildly and without proper reason, that if she speaks, Mystique might make her mute forever.

"Toad will take you about on tour, I'm sure he'll like a chance to apologize." Mystique's blue body had been fully mature, that of a woman grown, but with Rogue's body and voice she mimics a teenager perfectly, down to a wink.

"Oh yeah, I'm all about being gentlemanly and hen-pecked." Toad teases, as he stands outside the helicopter he had been flying. Apparently he'd been the first one out, and Rogue just hadn't noticed it. Sabertooth opens up the helicopter as if he's peeling an orange, Magneto steps out behind him and even here –where it's supposed to be safe on Krad's island - it's clear that Magneto is the one being protected.

Toad offers his arm, and if it's a choice between a blue skinned girl who is wearing her body like a puppet and a green skinned boy who doesn't, Rogue takes the lesser of two oddities. Rogue doesn't bother to wonder what would have happened if she'd refused either of them; neither does she look back to see where Mystique goes - or who she shapes herself into next.

"So, where would you like to go? There isn't much here, the warehouse has our mad plot, the barracks is where we sleep, and the mess is where we eat and for company we have Magneto, Sabertooth, Mystique – and, the manor that's off limits because of the Sleeping Beauty and well, _him_." Toad nods toward this him who has met Magneto on the path between the Brotherhood's base and the manor house that sits beside the sea, elegant and sophisticated.

Like a castle out of some fairy tale dream. He's blond but his hair is cut in a haphazard way that is messy and somehow personally tidy. It might bother others, but his hair won't get in his way. Eyes that are amber catch Rogue's own, and hold them.

She doesn't realize he's moved until she finds that he's standing in front of her. His head is tilted as he studies her, looking into her eyes as if can see into her, through her...

- _He can_.- Daisuke speaks softly, like a whisper upon the wind, the thought striking her into stillness.


	9. The Royal and the Street-Rat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a Oedipus twist here (if you are a Rogue/Remy fan), and chapter ten is the end of this story.

- _Hello, Krad_. – Daisuke greets, as if he expected to be seen and recognized within Rogue's own mind and body by this winged man. Krad's own cold golden eyes widen in surprise, as it's clear he somehow…hears.

"And who might this be, Magneto?" Krad asks softly, touching Rogue's cheek with a white feather – his own, tucked into his knuckle, feather light and fleeting – an offering she understands isn't for her to feel, but for Daisuke. It's an offering of kinship and protection; for them. Not her. For a moment she's a jealous of them as she is glad to have gotten here.

"Rogue, she will be of help to me, as her power is to take the power of others." Magneto answers, for both he and Krad had seen Rogue flinch from the feather and her eyes flick about as her cheeks burn. She hates how they act as if she isn't really a person. They don't really care about her, she knows, she's a tool to Magneto and she has Daisuke's mind within her own as far as Krad might be concerned.

Krad nods, thoughtfully, and looks back to his manor; the tallest center of it is a dome of glass that shines like diamonds. A room too far away to see clearly, but Rogue imagines that if anyone looked out from it, everything would be clear.

Krad turns away; his back to her, his white wings spreading out as if he might fly away and never return.

"Krad, sir, I – Dark, he needs your help." Rogue blurts it out, fearful that she might be forgotten and overlooked if she doesn't say something to Krad now. Rogue reaches out to him, as he goes aloft and tosses her a look over his shoulder, stunned with surprise.

"He can't wake up." ' _And I did it to him_.' Rogue thinks, but dares not say. If Krad's brother is Sleeping Beauty, Dark is the poisoned Snow White and Rogue was the witch and the apple all in one. Krad looks to Magneto, who seems to understand that asking glance, and nods.

Krad goes, up and up and then when she thinks she'll never see him again, Krad comes down like a hawk upon prey – and takes Rogue up with him. Up to the domed window room, where one window was left open. A window only Krad or someone else who was winged could have gotten to.

Krad sets her down, and she agrees with Toad, that the boy in the bed is a Sleeping Beauty.

- _Satoshi_ …- Daisuke's thought becomes her own, and for the first time in her life Rogue feels as if her body isn't her own. Krad sees the shift, the way that Rogue holds herself in standing becomes someone else's, the way that body, so strange, but the movements so familiar, as it walks to Satoshi's side and leans over his brother's face.

The kiss is brief and jolting, for at the end of it his brother's blue eyes are open for the first time since his precious bond had been taken, twisted and near broken.

" _Daisuke_ …?!" Satoshi speaks, confused at the sight of a lady's face, her eyes flash teasing ruby. She blinks at him, her eyes naturally green – she bolts away as quickly as any startled baby fawn.

"S-sorry!" Rogue stutters out, flushing prettily.

Krad laughs and it booms through the glass like thunder. It startles Rogue into looking for an exit, but there isn't one. This glass dome has no exit or entrance for someone who does not have wings. Rogue turns wide eyes upon Satoshi, who touches his lips with a frown as his brother laughs.

"Sorry? Sorry she says! No, no, dear girl, _thank you_." Krad means it, saying the words like he's never meant them more than before now.

"What's going on?" Satoshi demands of his brother, his brother who he recognizes despite how much Krad has aged. His voice is strange to his own ears. He touches own face, with a measuring stillness that speaks of careful study.

"How old am I?" It's a faint question that dreads to be answered. Krad's eyes are warm and golden upon him, shining.

"You are fourteen, little brother, it has been seven years." The words are like a stone thrown into a lake of memory between the three of them, ripples both hurting and healing. It's clear even as Krad speaks that he had feared that Satoshi would never wake, would one day slip from a coma sleep into death.

"Daisuke, where is Daisuke?" Satoshi demands, as any child might. His face – his own brother's changed features, aren't enough proof. He has to see more. See how much someone who had been his own age had changed.

"He's safe! In a way, he's here in me – but Dark and he, they're trapped." Rogue taps the side of her head, not her heart, because she doesn't want Satoshi to think that Daisuke is dead. She hopes with all her heart that what she's doing is going to prevent that from happening.

"By Remy?" Krad asks the name of the other mutant as deadly as any blade. Something in Rogue dreads to hear that name threatened by Krad, by anyone. She protests to protect him, and doesn't know why she does it.

"No, they…it happened that I was trying to help a friend, his mutation are these metal coated bones that come out of his hands – he's also a healer. I wasn't thinking about that. He was a friend, and helpless, and having a nightmare. I was only trying to help him." Rogue looks down to the floor, which is marble and not glass. She's glad, because she'd be nervous about standing on glass, that it might break under her weight and cut her feet.

That fear is a lot like talking to these two about what happened. As if the floor might break under her weight and chew her up and swallow her and spit her out bloody and broken.

"He woke up and stabbed me." Rogue unconsciously touches where the skin is unmarred, remembering the pain and the hot blood coming out of her.

"He tried to help me, so did Dark…they, they both fell into a sleep we can't wake them from. A part of my power isn't just to take others powers, but a part of their personality too." Rogue hugs her arms about herself defensively. She looks to Satoshi and finds sympathy, and worry – and Krad, she just can't read his expression.

"You are sure you are not protecting Remy?" Krad asks, searchingly, as if he knew how she had felt in revealing what had happened – that it was her fault – in order to protect him. Rogue wonders if beyond the power to take and turn time to his liking, Krad has another power. She almost doesn't doubt it. Daisuke, if he knows – or not – is silent... he's just basking in the giddiness of seeing Satoshi sitting up, awake and aware.

A part of that has spilled over to Rogue and made her bold enough to tell them the truth, boasted by that sense of positive satisfaction.

"Why would she protect him?" Satoshi asks of Krad, and Rogue knows that if she had demanded it of the blond mutant, he would never have told her the whole truth. It's his brother that asks, and Satoshi is one of Krad's great weaknesses and strengths, so Krad tells his brother what he wouldn't have told to Rogue alone. She hears it, but it sinks in slowly.

"Do you not recognize their family resemblance?" It makes her feel as if the ground under her is glass after all, sharp and biting.

"Remy and me, we're related?" Krad looks to her with a tilted head, as if he's known her before this, and known her very well. Time to him is nothing; he's lived his life not just once, but many, many times. How many times did Krad remember meeting her? Knowing her? It made her angry, that he could remember and she couldn't – that all his memories were only bed-time stories that Daisuke barely remembered.

"Yes. He's yours." Krad told her, soft and sure of his words.

"Mine? My _what_?" Rogue was confused, was Remy her brother, a cousin? She shook away her guesses, and Krad spoke as if had been waiting for her to shake her head in just that way.

"Child." It made her sick with coldness.

"How? How can that be? I've never had a child! A-and he's got be my age!" Rogue's southern accent slipped into her words, drawling them out painfully.

- _You forget what he can do_. – Daisuke said, trying for a soothing tone.

 _Time_. It seemed to stand still for Rogue, or it spun wilding around her and she was a cold stone center, a world watching it all turn.

"How _dare_ you." Rogue understood, that Remy – her son-to-be, that somehow Krad had taken him from her future, if it was indeed still a future she could still have... Krad had stolen him, her baby, and had brought him here, to _this_ time and place. To be raised by strangers, alone and thinking no one but his adopted family have ever loved him. Rogue was unsure about many things about herself in the future, but what she wasn't unsure about was that she'd love her son.

- _Rogue? Rogue, no!_ – Rogue for the first time in her life reached for her power, embraced it, and strode toward where Krad stood watching her as wary as a crocodile with those cold gold eyes gleaming at her.

' _I'm going to kill him_!' Rogue hissed back at Daisuke, who struggled with her thoughts that leapt about like lighting and roared like thunder, this was what the word _turmoil_ meant; a mind more like a tempest than some ordered tidy room.

- _Rogue it hasn't happened yet – and, and you don't know why! What if you were dead when he took Remy? What if he did it to protect him? At least ask why, Rogue_!- Daisuke struggled to speak, every word he spoke fainter than the last until she had to listen hard to hear him within her own mind. She realized with a sinking horror that he was fading – and what would she do if she'd gone through all this to fail, now? She wouldn't – could not, she could get revenge or answers later – but Daisuke, and Dark they would not have that time. If she wasted that time she would not forgive herself.

"Why?" Rogue choked out the word, the only word she must say face to face with Krad and all he could do and would do.

Krad did not cringe or flinch away, only looked her steadily in the eyes and she knew he had heard all that she had thought. He knew what she really asked.

"It was what you wanted." It was as simple as that, for more than that Krad would never say.

Rogue slapped him across the face, and the memories that washed over her weren't her own – but they were memories that Krad wanted her to have. He would not say, but there were other ways.

She saw Remy become Death, the puppet of Sinister and Apocalypse. That Krad felt helpless to stop this, only delaying what he felt was unavoidable – over and over again. It was inevitable that soon Remy might start to remember the delays. Only she could put an end to it, one way or another – it was her choice, and this was Krad's way of giving her the chance to change things and save her son.

Rogue blinked back tears, looking at Krad's solemn face and vowing this would be the last life he would have to do what he had done.

"Go save him." Rogue asked, and Krad's nod is agreeable. He lifts his white wings and flies away. Going to Dark, at whose side he belongs. Rogue lets out a sigh as she sits beside Satoshi on his bed; his lips form an awkward tilt. It isn't quite a smile, but a show of endurance and solidarity. He wraps an arm about her shoulders, his wings hovering over them protectively, not knowing what she knows now, but offering comfort.

It's just what she needs.


	10. Of Friendships That'll Last Lifetimes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Daisuke which was within Rogue was not actually Daisuke himself, only the aspect of his personality Rogue had gained with her power. One is not aware of what is happening to the other. Just something to keep in mind.

Behind Dark's closed eyes, Daisuke saw worlds. There were so many, and he saw dizzying flashes of them, moments, small, but caught and he remembered them all in that glimpse. Daisuke had never really thought about his power, living in the moment as he did.

Yet as he saw worlds flash and fade away before his eyes like raindrops, he knew his wings weren't his only talent. He hovered between and betwixt worlds, red wings flung wide, and watched them. He was lost among worlds.

 _-Dark_ – Daisuke saw all the worlds, shining and wet, like dew drops. He could reach out and take one up, and walk upon that world. He knew there was a place he belonged, yet lost among the drops of world as far as the eye could see, he could find nothing that made one world more familiar to him than another.

There was a sea of worlds before, behind and beside him, heaving and vast, and Daisuke was lost as far as he could see. He shivered, as lonely as he was lost. Here he was alone; there was…no one – nothing, only he. Daisuke wept, and the tears he shed he watched become worlds, spinning this way and that.

He wondered if this where all the ifs and buts and maybes went, all the choices taken and untaken.

- _Dark, please_ ….- Daisuke didn't want anymore to see the spinning of worlds both strange and familiar to him, and none of them home. Daisuke shuddered silently, resolving not to cry out, not to shed anymore tears, he whipped his eyes and buried his head in his arms, his knees drawing protectively foreword and his wings enclosing his body.

- _Answer me….anybody_?-

* * *

 

Krad has always loved the feeling of flight, of freedom. It was a joy that he was greedy of. Even flying with intent and purpose was not without its enjoyments.

With every beat of his white wings, a warm elation grew like seed at last nurtured, it was his hope – hope that next day would dawn with Krad reunited with Dark and Daisuke and Satoshi. To have the three at his side had been his dream, his work.

He curled his fingers into a fist and relaxed them, thinking of running his fingertips over a still lake's surface, and so time stood still. This he would do to quicken that bright and warm growth within him.

He could not quite rewrite time or make it turn back by minutes or hours, but this – this was within his reach – as was, at long last - his hope.

There below him was Xavier's home, and it was with ease that Krad landed among those who would not see him or hear him until he wanted it so. He walked amongst them, following the warmth of his bond – silly and cliché as it would seem to anyone else, if he tried to explain it aloud.

Simpler to say it was instinct. Or luck.

Whatever it was, it did not guide Krad wrongly, and he walked below and found the way easier than he knew it should be. It was as if who he sought wanted to be found, as if fate worked in his favor.

Soon enough he saw Dark, laid upon a hospital cot, very still and too pale for someone with such striking features. Krad found his fingers running all too freely through royal purple hair; he stoked and soothed it until it lay like silk. He pulled upon it only a little, his eyes fixed upon an unmoved face. Krad remembered how sensitive Dark had always been about his hair, not about its look – although he had never been lazy in caring for it – but about how it shouldn't be pulled upon, or petted.

Dark had never liked it.

Krad's amber eyes, like light caught in honey, narrowed in worry.

"Why won't you wake?" Krad asked of Dark's stillness, for Krad didn't like it. Once before he had shown Dark this slowness of time and place, and Dark – like Satoshi and Daisuke – had been all but unaffected. Krad thought it had something to do with their talents, but it had never been something he had had the time to prove.

Krad's lips twitched, at the irony of him running out of time – time was something Krad had so misused and manipulated he had once taken for granted that it would always be in his favor. Yet there were other forces at work in the world beyond time, call it fate or fortune or luck or destiny. The eons were ruled by them.

Krad closed his eyes and thought of Dark, what made him who he was, his personality, his body and bones and blood. He flexed his fingers in that silky hair, trying to tug the two together, into the here and now, like two sides of the same coin and two magnates, fighting his force of will.

Frustrated, he opened his eyes, knowing now it would not work. Dark was not dead, but here – somewhere. Krad looked about the medical lab, as if hoping to see some sign of Dark who was much like his name. Peter Pan like, Dark was a shadow of Daisuke who had will and ways of his own.

"Where are you?" Krad asked of the empty room. Brother he called Satoshi, but he had a bond with Dark that was warm and beating within him. It had called them together. With the force of the bond behind his question, Dark answered, and opened his eyes. They were all black, like a pit of pitch, as if the pupil had swallowed whites and iris whole.

All there was…was Dark.

The bond between them tightened, and beat like a frightened thing. Dark alone was like Krad without Satoshi – which Krad had never been, even if Satoshi had slept most of the years away. It was wrong.

Dark smiled as if he knew it was, and didn't care.

"Where is Daisuke?" Krad asked soft into the silence between them. Dark's eyes did not sway from staring at Krad's face.

"Where you can never reach him Krad, he's safe. He's where he belongs, protected." There was bitterness to Dark's words; as if he wasn't sure he liked what he had to say.

Krad hisses between his teeth, soft like a snake. It wasn't enough that Dark didn't like it that underlined that something had gone very wrong. Krad was sure that Dark had meant to protect Daisuke, but if this was the result in Dark – it wasn't at all right.

"Can you reach him, Dark?" Krad couldn't let himself panic, it would do no one any good and might hurt them all in the long run. If he lost the least bit of control with Dark watching, it might drive Dark to mistrust him.

As it was the distaste he had hissed was being taken for warning, but Dark didn't see anything wrong with what he said – he was watching Krad as if he expected to be threatened. It was very crude to think that Dark was the yin to Daisuke's yang, and Krad was likewise to Satoshi, crude, yes – but not altogether incorrect.

One without the other was unbalanced, dangerously so. The more so true with Dark, who shared Daisuke's body…Krad had his theory to why that was. It was time to see if theory proved true.

"I could, if I wanted to. He's safer without me." Dark's eyes shone with wetness, but he did not seem to notice he was near tears.

"That's not true, Dark, you know it and so do I." Krad had not been the only one to tell Daisuke and Satoshi what had happened to him as if they were bed time stories. Krad had listened in, though Dark might not always have noticed it.

"Ah, you _know_ it, but can you prove it?" Krad smiled, and if it was not a very nice smile he thought Dark would not hold it against him. Neither of them was _naturally_ inclined to be… _nice_.

"Would he have been safe without you, that night his – _your_ – parents would have parted him of his wings?" Dark was very still, and those pitch eyes very cold.

"He would have survived it." Dark spoke softly, a truth he hated. Krad's gold eyes flashed against those words, and he spoke hastily in protest.

"He would have been crippled." Krad loved to fly and had taught Satoshi and Daisuke how, for Dark had never learned the art of it. Dark had had shadows, shadows he could become one with and could part from in form at another place entirely. To say that Dark was Daisuke's shadow was not exactly all he was – or had been.

Dark's wings mantled, threatening at the thought.

"You've saved him and watched over him all his life… _why_? So you can take him over now?" Satoshi had told him that Dark would love him, but Krad had decided if it was between saving Daisuke or Dark, it would be Daisuke. This life, this body, was meant to be Daisuke – for all that he shared it willing and gladly with Dark.

"It's…it is what he wants." Dark cried, openly and unaware of his own weeping. His words hurt his heart, Krad was sure.

"Are you so sure, Dark? What if he doesn't want to be hidden away…" Krad could not think of how Daisuke must feel, locked away from his own senses. He knew he had to hurry, for there was a risk that Daisuke might not be himself if his sprit was split too long from his body.

Such a thing should only happen at death, but Dark and Daisuke had tied their spirits together, and so deep was their bond that they shared a body that shaped itself into what form pleased it's spirit best. If Daisuke did not want to return to the body that Dark had taken and kept, he would die in truth – and Dark would die with him. It was something Krad dared not think long upon.

"I…I don't know. I…I can't reach him." Dark blinked away his tears, his irritation at himself plain to see. Krad offered his hand, and for all that Dark had become cold and lonely, he did not hesitate in taking it and entwining their fingers together.

Krad felt the bond throb, beating like a second heartbeat, calling Daisuke home with warmth, with darkness and light. He thought of his fingers pulling away from a lake, the stillness of time fading away. The body beside Krad's own took a shuddering breath, and red hair and ruby eyes met his eyes.

"It…it won't work, we've got to save Rogue – all those people, dying - I saw, saw so many, it – Magneto!" Daisuke shuddered and closed his eyes tight as if he had seen something terrible. No, not merely something, many things in many different ways... Krad straightened thoughtfully, and took out his cell phone intent on giving the guests upon his island a call they could not afford to ignore. To do so would insult him, their host – and Magneto would not do something like that so lightly.

"Toad speaking…" The youngest member of the Brotherhood sounded so chipper, it felt like a foreign feeling. Krad looked up as a man wheeled himself into the lab, sitting patiently before him, hopeful. Krad knew this man had heard thoughts that belonged to him – to Daisuke – and to Dark.

He did not mean to eavesdrop; he simply could not seem to help who and what he was. He was, Krad knew, Charles Xavier.

"You are to stop the plan as of now." Krad demanded hotly, authority ringing in his voice.

"Stop? Stop, but…why?" Toad sounded hurt and lost, and Krad was not truly surprised to hear the voice that addressed him next.

"Yes, Krad – why stop now, when we are so close to what we all want?" Magneto might be a hard man, as hard as the metals he manipulated, but he was hot about his passions and his ethics and the people he counted as his own. He only seemed cold and unmovable, this Krad knew. In that way, Krad and he were much alike.

"I've an old friend of yours who can explain it all better than I before it is too late to turn back. There will be other opportunities." Krad gave over the phone to Charles Xavier, who took it with a look as if he might break it if he handled it with less care than precious crystal glass or prized chinaware.

"Hello, Erik. All I ask is for a little faith, if not in me than in science and what we've observed in the aftermath of your theory and test." It was a beginning, Krad knew – but he did not know to what.

Daisuke had calmed in the moments that Krad had started things in motion, and sat leaning comfortably against his side, a small surprised but pleased smile upon his lips.

It was very like as if he had not but hoped to see something like this happening.

O.o.O.o.O.o.O

**THE END**

O.o.O.o.O.o.O


End file.
